Monday, June 23, 2008

16th Annual Indian Market And Festival

This weekend was the 16th annual Indian Market put on by the Eiteljorg Museum, and it was the first trip to said event for young Jackson, who was only a couple of weeks old when last year’s event took place - and we thought he was probably a bit too wee to take to an outdoor event where it is almost always hot and humid and the lines for food are typically quite long and feature plentiful sunshine. The Indian Market is also one of our favorite things to do during the summer and fall festival season here in Indianapolis and Amy and I were looking forward to getting back.

But...it was time for Jackson to take a nap when Amy brought him home from church, and I was having trouble getting awake after working for nearly twelve hours on Saturday - my usual 10-8 shift having been extended on the front end because of a Heartland Film Society screening in the morning. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready to go and we picked up advance tickets at Marsh on the way to pick up my mom (who introduced us to the Indian Market I don’t even remember how long ago now) and we got there just as that thunderstorm that started in the early afternoon began to let up.

It was rain cooled because of the thunderstorm, and the storm might also have chased some of the folks who had been there in the morning and early afternoon - there was virtually no line for food, which was unusual; but it was nearly three o’clock by the time we got there, and that left only two hours to eat and then check out all the artwork for sale in the four big tents set up on the grounds of Military Park. Past years have featured one big food vendor that served up fry bread, Indian tacos, buffalo burgers, corn soup, and drinks. This year there were a couple of carnival-style food vendor trailers with all of the above items (except corn soup) and some other items not Indian-related. There was also a stand selling Mexican food from a Mexican restaurant in Franklin, Indiana, though I don’t recall the name of the restaurant. Amy tried chicken tamales and a steak taco from that stand, and both were quite tasty.

After we ate, there wasn’t much time left for perusing the art in the four tents, but we got to at least three of them (and maybe all four, but we were moving so quickly that I’m not sure). I tell myself every year at the Indian Market that I will find some way to make way more money the following year so that I can buy some of this art, but it never happens. The paintings and sculptures and jewelry are really nice to look at, but they’re also really expensive. This year, though, I managed to find a ring I liked for only $25 - contrasted with several other nice rings I saw that were between $45 and $180. I meant to take a picture of it and of the pair of earrings that Amy bought, but managed not to. Once I do get that picture, though, I’ll add it to this post.

Time ran out on us while we were in that last tent where I got my ring and Amy got her earrings, so we didn’t get to check out the tent with items from the White River Trader, the gift shop inside the Eiteljorg; and we didn’t get to the museum itself, wihch you can visit for free as part of the purchase price of your ticket to the Indian Market. It was a good time, though, as always. Click here to check out the pictures.

No comments: