This fall, Garfield Park on the city’s near southside will be buzzing with the melodies of a free, seven-week concert series thanks to a collaboration between Big Car Collaborative, Arte Mexicano en Indiana and the Los Angeles-based Levitt Foundation.
The Levitt VIBE Indianapolis Music Series kicks off on Sept. 1 and will run until Oct. 20. The series offers a vibrant mix of music genres for all ages.
Every Sunday from 12-3 p.m., the pastures outside the Garfield Park Art Center and Pagoda, located at 2432 Conservatory Drive, will transform into a vibrant community gathering space loaded with music, art activations and food trucks.
This initiative aims to restore an underused section of the park by providing free and accessible entertainment for residents.
Co-founder and executive director of Big Car Collaborative Jim Walker thinks the concert series will revitalize a neighborhood he also lives in.
“The idea is to bring additional liveliness to an underused area of our park with free outdoor music experiences and neighborly, inclusive, fun and creative social gatherings,” Walker said in a press release.
A diverse lineup featuring local, regional, national and even international talents. From the electronic sounds of Chicago’s Bitchin Bajas to the soulful melodies of Tulsa’s Elisa Harkins, the series promises something for everyone.
Local favorites will also be in attendance, with bands like Forgotten Tribe and Nathaniel Russell joining the lineup.
Notably, many performers live in the Garfield Park and Bean Creek neighborhoods, adding an extra layer of local flavor to the concert series.
Beyond the music, attendees can enjoy creative activities like haiku writing stations and Garfield Park postcard coloring. Food trucks will be present each week, offering mouthwatering options to complement the afternoon picnics visitors are welcome to bring.
Founder of Arte Mexicano en Indiana Eduardo Luna believes that the concert series is an amazing thing for everyone.
“Levitt VIBE Indianapolis is an opportunity for local, national and international Latino artists to be a part of a larger community,” Luna said in a press release.
For the full concert schedule, artist lineup, directions, parking information and more, visit the Big Car Collaborative website at bigcar.org.
Contact Multi-Media & Senior Sports Reporter Noral Parham III at 317-762-7846 or via email at noralp@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on X @3Noral. Visit our homepage for more news.
Noral Parham is the multi-media & senior sports reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Parham has worked with various leagues to provide a diverse perspective in sports, including the Big Ten, Big East, IHSAA, IndyCar, MLB, NHRA, NFL, NBA, WNBA, WWE and the Olympics. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.
