Don’t let the name fool you. It’s not a place where the Indiana National Guard stockpiles tanks, troop carriers, artillery and other military equipment. This looks like a place you would want to go…Right? Well, it’s just one view of many in one of the most versatile and valuable public sites in Indianapolis…Military Park. Because of it’s size, features and location close to downtown on the near west-side adjacent to the IUPUI campus and White River State Park areas, it hosts a number of events and festivals like the Vintage Indiana Wine and Food Festival, El Dia De La Familia, Rib America Festival, Indy Chinese American Festival, and the Indy Irish Festival. One of the most popular events is the annual Indy Jazz Fest which is coming up again later this summer, September 21-27. I like giving the Jazz Fest a little advance advertisement because it’s one of the most interesting events that happens in Indy. Music and especially jazz seems to cut across all the boundaries…age, race, religion, gender, income levels, etc. The way it brings all kinds of people together is unique. If you look at the crowd that attends, it’s composed of every facet of our population brought together for one simple thing…to enjoy music for a few hours.
In between major events, the park is just a nice place to sit on a park bench and take in the scenery, have a picnic, throw a football, or do whatever people like to do in any park. It has quite a history of different uses over the years, which is how it got it’s present name, but actually is a part of White River State Park now…just a few steps away from the Eiteljorg Museum, NCAA headquarters, IMAX and the Indiana State Museum.
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