For Immediate Release: May 27, 2025
Media Contact: Max Wing | max@downtownindy.org
‘SPARK on the Circle’ to return to Monument Circle again in 2025
2025 season to feature fan-favorite programming and new community partnerships
INDIANAPOLIS — SPARK on the Circle will be back again in 2025 thanks to a partnership between Big Car Collaborative (Big Car), Downtown Indy, Inc. (DII), and the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development (Indy DMD) — with support from the Indiana War Memorials Commission (IWMC). The 2025 season will kick off this Saturday, May 31 and run through Sept. 28.
This year, SPARK will once again utilize a temporary closure to vehicular traffic on the northwest quadrant of Monument Circle to provide contemporary seating, synthetic turf, and food and beverage offerings as well as free daily programming including live music, artist activations, and games. SPARK, now in its third year as a fully pedestrian-friendly space, will operate daily from 11 a.m. to dusk.
“It’s hard to believe we’re in our third season of SPARK on the Circle, a project that has helped to define great public space activation in Downtown Indianapolis,” Downtown Indy, Inc. President & CEO Taylor Schaffer said. “Season three of SPARK incorporates familiar favorites like public seating, lawn games and local performances, boasts exciting new partnerships, and embraces the return of the Original Farmers’ Market. Whether it’s your first time on the Circle or dozenth time, we hope that SPARK continues to engage and inspire all who visit.”
SPARK seeks to provide positive experiences for the community of visitors, residents, and Downtown workers who enjoy Monument Circle — the civic, social, cultural, and historic heart of Indianapolis. From public seating and green space, to giant Jenga and lunchtime concerts, SPARK was designed with a pedestrian-first mindset, driving foot traffic to the Circle in a safe and welcoming environment. Most importantly, SPARK is free for everyone to enjoy and serves as a showcase of our city’s outstanding arts and cultural scene.
“Some of the best feedback we heard from visitors last year was that spending time at SPARK helped them feel more relaxed and able to enjoy their days,” Big Car Executive Director & Co-founder Jim Walker said. “Many shared how much they appreciate SPARK bringing nature, art, play, comfort, togetherness and fun into their lives. This has been what SPARK is all about since we brought it to the Circle 10 years ago.”
“We’re so excited to welcome SPARK back to downtown Indy! Three years is a wonderful accomplishment," said Iris Dillion, Administrator of Programming and Public Use for Indy DMD. “SPARK serves as more than just a public space, but a vibrant hub for people to connect, create, and celebrate at the heart of our city. DMD is proud to support programming that brings energy, equity, and community to our shared spaces.”
In addition to its park-like amenities and free programming, SPARK continues to complement Monument Circle’s larger outdoor event ecosystem. For the second year, SPARK will operate in tandem with the Original Farmers’ Market (OFM) on the Circle’s south half, featuring some of Indy’s highest quality produce, meats, baked goods, lunch options, and more from local vendors and Indianapolis eateries. Additional Monument Circle events operating adjacent to SPARK include Ice Cream Social (July 10), the inaugural Indianapolis Pizza Festival (Aug. 9), Midwest Food Bank Kind Harvest Market (Aug. 23), and more.
And, to accompany the launch of SPARK and kick off Pride Month in Indianapolis, community partner Indy Gay Market will return with Big Gay Pride Market on the south half of Monument Circle from May 31 and June 1, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The pop-up market, celebrating LGBTQ+ artists and creatives, will feature 60 unique vendors each day, in addition to live DJs, and opportunities for community building. The market occurs more than 40 years after the first large pride gathering in the state of Indiana occurred on Monument Circle, where hundreds of people joined in solidarity against discrimination.
Following SPARK’s regular season, a modified version of the installation — SPARK Holidays on the Circle — will remain open from November to December to complement DII’s time-honored tradition, The Downtown Indy, Inc. Circle of Lights® presented by IBEW Local 481. SPARK Holidays will feature festive programming including musical performances, appearances from Santa Claus, and warm beverages for purchase within the bollards of the Circle, allowing vehicular traffic to access the roundabout and take in the Circle of Lights® spectacle. Last year, during its inaugural season, SPARK Holidays drew over 6,000 visitors, encompassing friend groups, families, young couples, and holiday travelers.
First introduced in 2015 in a beta version, SPARK brings renewed vibrancy to the Circle as a day-to-day space for Downtown residents, workers, and visitors to congregate and “spark” connections. In 2015, Big Car teamed up with the City and many others to first test — over a stretch of one summer — the big idea of prioritizing Monument Circle for people. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts along with support from CICF and the City, this project (where Spark Placemaking and SPARK on the Circle originated) proved very successful.
In 2022, SPARK enjoyed a year of regular activities in a few limited spaces while the Circle remained open for traffic. The southwest quad was closed for a weekend music festival. There, the team saw the potential of this one quadrant staying closed as a park. In 2023, SPARK closed the southwest quadrant from July until November and it went excellently.
In its 2024 season, the park-like environment welcomed over 71,000 visitors and hosted 270 human-scale program opportunities. 81% of 2024 visitors spent more than 30 minutes at SPARK to enjoy programming, seating, food and drink options, and games. During Taylor Swift’s Indianapolis stop on The Eras Tour, SPARK welcomed more than 10,000 visiting “Swifties” who took part in a wide range of activities including mailing more than 1,500 custom Taylor Swift-inspired Indianapolis postcards to friends and family across the country.
A SPARK 2024 recap video is available to view here: https://youtu.be/e5vxmoP1JpE?si=jlCeIh7j9zlkFVHV
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About SPARK on the Circle
SPARK on the Circle is a temporary park-like environment on the northwest quadrant of Monument Circle featuring public seating and human-scale activities including games, relaxing seating, arts and culture opportunities, and live music. SPARK is made possible by an ongoing partnership between Big Car Collaborative, Downtown Indy, Inc., and the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development — with support from the Indiana War Memorials Commission. SPARK on the Circle is part of Spark Placemaking — a program of the Indianapolis-based arts nonprofit, Big Car, since 2015. Join us on the northwest quadrant this 2025 season! www.CircleSpark.org
About Downtown Indy, Inc.
For more than three decades, Downtown Indy, Inc. (DII) has partnered with businesses, property owners, and Downtown stakeholders to ensure Downtown Indianapolis is the vibrant, welcoming, and fun heart of Indiana’s cultural and economic life. DII serves as Downtown’s primary place-based management organization, collaborating and executing on large-scale events, public space programming, cleanliness and beautification initiatives, and investments in public safety. www.DowntownIndy.org
About Big Car Collaborative
Big Car Collaborative brings art to people and people to art, sparking creativity in lives to support communities. As a nonprofit arts organization, they utilize tools of culture and creativity to build community and social cohesion — connecting people as a way to boost quality of life. Much of Big Car’s work happens on a single block where they own or co-own more than 20 properties — including a long-term affordable housing program for artists and Tube Factory — a contemporary art museum with a cafe, studios, and community space. At their campus of adaptive reuse buildings and public greenspace, they host community and cultural programs to promote social connectivity, cooperation, and creativity. Big Car also facilitates people-focused placemaking and place keeping projects across the city and beyond through Spark. Also, tune in to their experimental, community-focused radio station, WQRT 99.1 FM — also streaming at wqrt.org. www.BigCar.org
About the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development
The City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development (Indy DMD) works to shape the city’s identity by strengthening people and places, building upon our history, and fostering visionary development. The Indy DMD envisions Indianapolis as a growing, vibrant, and beautiful city where people and businesses thrive in an inclusive, world class community. www.indy.gov/dmd
