2011 Host City - Indianapolis, IN
Host of the 2011 WLS and the 2012 Super Bowl
Check out what is going on downtown SATURDAY, MAY 7!
The 35th Running of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon! The Mini has sold-out for the past eight years. The Mini-Marathon is the largest half-marathon in the U.S., and overall, the fifth largest running event in America. Following the Mini-Marathon and 5K races, the participants, along with their family and friends which reaches nearly 90,000 people, gather in the 500 Festival Post Race Party at Military Park in downtown Indianapolis. Participants have the chance to relax and receive food and drinks, while enjoying post-race entertainment. The Post Race Party takes place until 2 p.m. for all participants, and the public is welcome. The event features live music from great bands, tasty food, your favorite thirst quencher from the Beer Garden, shopping for race merchandise and other goodies, and much more! The Post-Race party is free and open to the public!
ADDITIONAL Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association Information:
Indianapolis has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as having the nation's #1 hotel value. Downtown hotels are conveniently linked to yet another new development: the combination of Lucas Oil Stadium and the vastly expanded Indiana Convention Center (which, taken together, rank as one of the nation's largest convention facilities). From there, it's anyone's guess as to what will catch your attention next. It might be the restaurants, ranging from Shapiro's (which USA Today called one of America's greatest delis), to Goose The Market (ranked by Bon Appetit as one of their Top 10 U.S. sandwich shops), to St. Elmo Steak House (home of the hottest meal in the world, as declared by the Travel Channel).
Our many attractions include The Children's Museum of Indianapolis—which is the largest children's museum in the world, and has been rated simply “the best” by Child magazine. The Indianapolis Zoo (located in the nation's only urban cultural state park) is ranked among the nation's top 10 zoos by TripAdvisor, and our Indianapolis Museum of Art—one of the country's 10 largest and oldest general art museums.
In the market for souvenirs? Circle Centre, a four-level urban mall anchored by Nordstrom and Carson Pirie Scott, is a downtown landmark. On the city's north side, The Fashion Mall at Keystone presents such options as Saks Fifth Avenue and Crate & Barrel. And smaller, uniquely local shops are found within the city's various Cultural Districts.
Our many stages support thriving local music and theater scenes, while welcoming touring shows of all kinds. And in a city that built its reputation on sports both amateur and professional, you'll almost always find some sort of competition going on. As host of the world's 1st and 2nd-largest single-day sporting events (the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400)—and as the host of Super Bowl XLVI in 2012—we know how to show guests a good time.
