This weekend, there are two separate home and garden shows in the Indianapolis area; the Indiana Home & Garden Show (tickets $5, 18 and under free), at the convention center downtown, and the Suburban Indy Home & Outdoor Living Show (tickets $10 at the gate, $7 online, and 12 and under free), at the Grand Park Events Center in Westfield. I received complimentary tickets to both (thanks to my day job and a kind stranger in Westfield) and went to both today to see how they hold up to previous shows at the State Fairgrounds and compare to each other.
I won’t bury the lead here; the Westfield show blows the downtown one out of the water. Downtown, I parked in a garage, walked through the skybridge into the convention center, walked the entire floor, left, and made it back to my car, in under half an hour (and still had to pay $12 for parking). Their ticket advertises hundreds of exhibits but by my count it was closer to 60.
The event in Indianapolis. Not pictured; the barriers behind us which separated the empty half of the room from the vendors. We saw someone peek behind the curtains, trying to find where the rest of the event must be.
I wouldn’t call it a family activity. This one was definitely more of a trade show, and the smaller crowd made the vendors a little more desperate to catch potential customers. However, I want to shout out one vendor; Mary Ann Carter Portrait Art had some very dynamic photographs and seems worth considering if you’re looking to get family portraits taken.
Westfield’s Suburban Indy Home & Outdoor Living Show, in contrast, was vibrant. Some of the vendors were the same (larger companies like Anderson or Bee Windows), but the variety was much wider. In addition to your construction companies, HVAC repairmen, and whatnot, there were also woodcrafter and fiber arts products, jewelry, boutiques, RockAToy, and Paper Pie books. Plus, there’s a Kids’ Zone with inflatables and games!
View of the floor from above. I’d never been to the Grand Park Events Center before, but it’s a very cool space. Grand Park hosts the Colts and Indy Eleven training camps and is the future home of Ed Carpenter Racing.
The Kids’ Zone is up all weekend, but Sunday is Kids’ Day, with a whole host of activities:
10:30-11am - Magician Marcus Lehman
11-11:45am - Princesses Cinderella, Ariel, Moana, Elsa, and Anna sing, dance, and tell stories
12-12:45pm - Silly Safari Animal Show
1-1:45pm - Balloongenuity performs a balloon-twisting show
2-2:45pm - Second Silly Safari Show
3-3:45pm - Princesses Cinderella, Ariel, Moana, Elsa, and Anna return for more singing and dancing!
This is a great opportunity to see some class acts at a very reasonable price. Parking at Grand Park is generous (and free) and it took about 40 minutes to get there from downtown. The Suburban Indy Home & Outdoor Living Show ends at 7pm today, and runs from 10am to 4pm tomorrow. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity!
