Spark on the Circle

I'm writing this after Spark on the Circle has closed for the season. I'm really hoping the city decides to do Spark again in 2024, because it was so fun and such a great idea to bring the community and visitors together to relax and have fun.Spark on the Circle was located on Monument Circle, and had lots of outdoor games -- giant Jenga, corn hole, paddle ball, chess, etc. -- and places to sit and enjoy being downtown. There were also food and beverage trucks, music, photo ops and just a general sense that Indy is a great place.Part of Monument Circle was closed off in order to install this space, which was nice. If you ask me (and no one has asked me, but I'll tell you anyway), the Circle should be closed off to traffic. It was nice to walk around Monument Circle and not have to deal with cars.The best part about Spark on the Circle is that it was free! You could just drop by and play and hang out. Indy needs more community spaces like this.

I really loved Spark on the Circle this year! Working downtown this was such a nice place to go and enjoy the outdoors while on my break! Many people took advantage of this area. Coworkers from businesses, visitors from all over and locals all enjoyed this space. Ping pong, chess, foosball, were some of the free games you could play. It really seemed like people were having a good time. I loved all the seating they had. The Adirondack chairs were comfortable and the picnic tables were nice if you were eating a meal. The food they had offered was so expensive! I never bought one thing there because it was so marked up!! They should have a different food trucks one or two local businesses take over that spot. They would do great! Rotate the food trucks weekly. I will say I loved this area, but the music needed something else. It sounded like you were on a spaceship! I couldn't stand the music they played!!! Play music that people know. The music on the circle now is Christmas music like "Last Christmas" that's good. Maybe next year they will do this again? Not sure. Hopefully!

I might be a little biased, has a downtown resident and member of the Downtown Indy board but I couldn't be more excited to see this activation and space come to life in such a pedestrian way. If you haven't been to the circle in a while, consider this your nudge. The southwest quadrant has been filled with grass, trees, plants, shaded seating spaces, and they even have a vendor selling local food and drink. It's a great space for coworking, gathering, friends, picnics, and more. It's been fun to see all the ways it's been used and it's first month. The plan is to keep everything on display through November. My real hope is that this will become a permanent installation for the city in feud has downtown's backyard for fun and gathering.

This is a space that was developed by the city, in conjunction with Brought to live by Downtown Indy, Inc., Big Car Collaborative, the Capital Improvement Board, and the Indiana War Memorial Commission, and is a place where people can hang out. It opened on July 11th and goes from 11AM to 9PM each day. They have shut down a portion of the Circle to traffic to make this spot. It is located at the front of the Sailors and Soldier's Memorial between Market and Meridian Streets, and is a pretty cool, hip and trendy spot. Even though the space is pretty much complete, there is a lot of construction going on around it, including Market Street and a major refresh of the monument.It is located in the heart of downtown, which means that it suffers from the same parking issues of any other downtown venue. There is metered street parking and commercial garages and lots within a reasonable walking distance. Most visitors here though are people that work in the area or visitors that already downtown for some other reason like a Colts game, or sightseeing. This area is pretty progressive and trendy. They have corn hole boards, large blue foam building blocks, giant Jinga, chess, and a few ping pong tables to play. It is lined with green artificial grass and has picnic table and Adirondack chairs to sit and lounge though. You will also find a snack bar here that has light food, snack and drinks. There may be some food trucks posted up here on certain days too. There were none there during my visit. I found a tailer set up there that features work of local artist and where you can mail postcards to anyone in the world. There is also a stage in the area where the host live music. There is something going on everyday here. One of my favorites is their coffee and donuts day, which is the second Wednesday of each. This pop-up park is scheduled to run until at least November of this year, so be sure to check it out. This is the second year that they have done it and it has no only gotten bigger, but better. If it does leave, I am sure it will be back and become an annual thing.I surprising really like the park's concept and it is a nice place to take a break from the hustle and bustle of downtown, take a load off and just relax. It is well planned out and is adorned with plants. I am really feeling its feng shui. I highly recommend checking this spot out if you are downtown.

I had the best time on the circle! It was so nice to have a safe space to relax and eat lunch amongst greenery and other humans. There were even tiny humans playing games and enjoying the atmosphere. I sincerely hope that the city continues this project- just the freedom of being able to have a walkable downtown feels so good. There was plenty of bike parking and obviously lots of places to sit. The cafe was a nice touch and there was so much to do. Fingers crossed that it will become permanent some day.