What kind of event offers you an opportunity to do everything from seeing a dance theater from Harlem and exploring tattoos, to discovering new health options and having a discussion with a legendary NBA star?
The Indianapolis based Spirit & Place Festival provides all those activities and more, and prides itself on offering something for everyone to use for entertainment, learning and self discovery.
Spirit & Place, the state’s largest civic festival, is a 10-day series of activities that attract an estimated 20,000 people who attend participating events at various locations throughout Central Indiana.
Every year more than 100 arts, religious, education and cultural institutions collaborate to present a variety of workshops, performances, exhibits and panel discussions.
“We just encourage people to see what we have and pick something that they think sounds really cool,” said Pam Blevins Hinkle, director of the Spirit & Place Festival.
In its 16-year run, the festival has always had a theme, and this year it is “The Body.”
Events for this year’s festival, which began on Nov. 4 and will conclude Nov. 13, have been designed to explore how the human body, though its senses, gifts and limitations, interprets a person’s experience of the world.
Participants will find out how the perception, nourishment and care for the body is shaped by culture, the environment, faith, politics, technology and medicine.
“We chose a theme that is both intensely personal, but also very broad in terms of the different kinds of topics that we can explore as a community,” Hinkle said. “Our programs will look at everything from aging and health, to beauty and body image, as well as dance, yoga and a whole range of things.
Hinkle also explained that the festival’s themes flow logically from one year to the next. This festival’s theme, for example, was inspired by last year’s concept, which was food and its impact on society.
“We are able to continue some great discussions that will help us all live a healthier, more fulfilling life,” she said. “There’s a lot to choose from. If you love the arts, there are some great plays, music concerts and exhibits. If you love science programs, there are great programs about imaging technology, how medical students treat cadavers and a whole range of topics from playful and fun, to very thoughtful and serious.
Hinkle noted that although many of Spirit & Place’s activities have already occurred, there is still time to enjoy some of them, including its flagship event, the Public Conversation, which explores the festival’s theme with a spontaneous on-stage discussion with nationally known figures.
This year’s conversation is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 13 at Congregation Beth-El Zedek, 600 W. 70th St., and will feature former L.A. Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who holds the NBA career record for most points, most field goals made and most All-Star selections.
Since his retirement from the Lakers in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar, 64, has also gained notoriety as an author and actor, as well as the lifestyle measures he adopted to overcome ailments such as migraines and cancer.
“He’s not just an iconic basketball player, but also a lifelong yogi, a devout Muslim and an amateur historian,” Hinkle said. “We know attendees will benefit from what he has to share, along with our other panelists.”
Abdul-Jabbar will be joined by bestselling author Anita Diamant (The Red Tent), and acclaimed poet Thomas Lynch, whose writings inspired HBO’s “Six Feet Under.”
Judi Ryan, a program manager of Spirit & Place, said the festival is unique because people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy it.
“It offers people of various cultural, racial and religious persuasions venues for intellectual conversation, artistic expression and faith-based reflection in honor of the “spirit” and “place” of the Indianapolis community,” she said.
