INDIANA — Celebrate the finale of Indiana’s Bicentennial year at “Celebrate Indiana: Ignite the Future. This free, family event will take place on Statehood Day, Dec. 11, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Indiana Farmers Coliseum from 10 a.m. to noon.
This event is the finale event of Indiana’s Bicentennial year. Through song, dance, message and more we hope to inspire the next generation of Hoosiers to “Ignite the Future.”
Throughout the two-hour program there will be a variety of entertainment and speakers. The speakers will include both dignitaries and a distinguished faith leaders from diverse faith backgrounds. Entertainment will include Hunter Smith — who will act as emcee – as well as the Indianapolis Children’s Choir and more.
The event is for all Hoosiers. Young and old, the purpose of this celebration is to inspire Hoosiers of all ages, backgrounds and parts of the state to make the next 100 years of Indiana history even better than the last 200.
Admission and parking for the event are free.
Indiana has come a long way in 200 years — from a sparsely populated woodland environment that was home Native American tribes and European settlers to today’s diverse urban, suburban and rural citizenry. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of Indiana stands at about 6,619,680 in 2015. Indiana is known for more than agriculture — the state leads the way in auto racing innovation, pharmaceuticals, medical device technology, transportation, and steel manufacturing.
Indiana has also been home to many influential people, including the “Hoosier Poet” James Whitcomb Riley, authors Theodore Dreiser, Jessymyn West, Etheridge Knight, Booth Tarkington, Lew Wallace, Gene Stratton Porter, Dan Wakefield, and Kurt Vonnegut. Musicians Joshua Bell, Wes Montgomery, John Mellencamp, and Michael Jackson, composers Hoagy Carmichael and Cole Porter, songstress and actress Florence Henderson, actors Carole Lombard, James Dean, Steve McQueen, and Shelley Long all hail from Indiana. Entrepreneurs Madame C.J. Walker and Orville Redenbacher have called Indiana home as well. Political figures such as Wendell Wilkie and Eugene V. Debs, VP Dan Quayle and soon-to-be VP Mike Pence got their start in Indiana. Many artists, including T.C. Steele, William Forsyth, Robert Indiana, and Michael Graves found inspiration in the state. Hoosier designers Bill Blass and Halston have dressed the jet set for decades. And, while he wasn’t born in Indiana, President Abraham Lincoln, spent his formative years in Indiana — qualifying him as an Indiana resident.
Over the last two centuries, Indiana has made its mark on the world. But we still don’t know why we’re called Hoosiers.
