Festivalpalooza '09

There are some haters out there who think Indy is a boring place with nothing to do. Apparently they have never been around on the second weekend of September. Ever the resident to wants to experience all my fine city has to offer, not to mention celebrating my last weekend of freedom from school, I decided to challenge myself to visit all six festivals going on in the city last weekend. Luckily I have a faithful friend who is always willing to take on such difficult challenges with me.

We hit two festivals on Friday night - accompanied by some other friends - then four more on Saturday.

Festival #1: Greek Fest

Best thing: By far, the food.

Worst thing: The crowd. Greek Fest moved to Carmel this year, and I'm pretty sure that all of Carmel was in front of us as we waited in line for our fabulous dinner.

Here's my pastry-

Festival #2: Oktoberfest

Best thing: The pretzel pictured below was really the only good thing about Oktoberfest.

Worst thing: Where to begin... well, I think everyone was at Greek Fest. And I don't know about you, but I don't go to Oktoberfest to purchase things like windows and Tupperware.

One pretzel; six people-

The gang at Oktoberfest: Jeff, Meg, me, Jess, Jenni, Rich, Kelly

(Kelly has mad self portrait skillz!)

Festival #3: Penrod Arts Fair

Best thing: Touted as "Indiana's Nicest Day," this is probably the best art fair around. Artists from all over the country bring their photography, paintings, jewelry, sculptures, and random instruments they use to play "Tears in Heaven" to this one-day event on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Worst thing: While fun to look at, the vast majority of the art is way too expensive to actually purchase.

Beautiful weather = big crowds-

Festival #4: French Market

Best thing: I was a first-timer at the French Market, and I must say, it was probably my weekend favorite. It was crowded, but not too crowded. There were crafts, food and entertainment. But the real highlight for me was the pizza. It was ah-mazing.

Worst thing: I can't really think of a worst thing about this one. Hm. I really liked it that much.

Incredible pizza-

Festival #5: Chinese Festival

Best thing: This was just the second year for the Chinese Festival, and it has some definite potential. It had a lot of cultural and educational information. (The other best thing was Jessica's comment on the way there, "Steph, we're going to get you a baby here!")

Worst thing: Nothing bad about this one either. It was a little smaller than the others, but props to the Indy Chinese community for celebrating their culture.

People doing Tai Chi-

Us-

Festival#6: Zionsville Fall Festival

Best thing: This festival was actually pretty impressive, though we probably didn't fully appreciate it since it was at the end of our journey. Unlike the others, which were all international, this one was much more representative of Indiana- corn, pork tenderloin, and all.

Worst thing: This isn't the festival's fault, but one can only see so many necklaces made of bottle caps.

Before heading home; after six festivals in 22 hours-