INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — Several events this last full weekend of August will bring thousands of people to downtown Indianapolis and surrounding neighborhoods.
Two of them involve sports: how often can you say you went to a baseball game and a football game all in the same day!?
On Saturday, Indianapolis Colts have a preseason game vs. the Chicago Bears, and the Indianapolis Indians take on the Louisville Bats.
At the same time, thousands of motorcycles will take over Monument Circle — literally. The Motorcycles on Meridian will close all of Monument Circle — all lanes of traffic and the spokes leading into the Circle. Look for those closures to begin around 3:00 p.m. Saturday and last the rest of the day.
The event will also force the closure of Meridian Street between South and Vermont streets; Jackson Place between McCrea and Meridian; Chesapeake Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania; and Georgia Street’s center and east blocks.
The west block of Georgia Street between Illinois and Capital will be closed from 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. for a Colts Tailgate event.
On Sunday, a large celebration will also be held at 4:00 p.m. for the American Legion Parade taking place downtown along Meridian, Pennsylvania, New York, and St. Clair streets.
The parade is part of a nearly week-long series of events for the American Legion Convention, which runs Friday - Thursday downtown.
Hotel rates are one of the best ways to tell there’s a lot going on downtown. As of 4:00 a.m. Friday, hotel websites indicated Saturday had several sellouts, and along with that, higher rates.
The JW Marriott lists the cheapest room at $189 on Friday night. That jumps to $398 on Saturday. The Embassy Suites also has a similar price jump: $165 on Friday vs. $386 on Saturday. The Conrad meanwhile has a room for $214 on Friday but is sold out on Saturday.
Not far from the city’s core, IndyFringe also continues on Mass Ave with dozens of shows scheduled throughout the weekend.