The 500 Festival met with August "Augie" A. Ebeling, a longtime volunteer of the 500 Festival for a Q&A session in regard to him being named the Grand Marshal for the 2022 AES 500 Festival Parade. In 2016, August was named the 500 Festival Volunteer of the Year for his [...]

Since 1957, the 500 Festival has been a long-standing presence in the city of Indianapolis and its surrounding communities. Since its founding in 1957 as a way to celebrate the Indianapolis 500 race itself, it has since grown into a community-oriented, philanthropic foundation that continues to create new and lasting [...]

Since we couldn't be together this Memorial Day Weekend, we wanted to provide everyone a way to get creative and still celebrate the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Join us in applauding these amazing submissions and we can't wait to see you in August for the IPL 500 Festival Parade! Team [...]

Miri ben-ari and iluminate to perform collaboration to open ipl 500 Festival Parade The 62nd IPL 500 Festival Parade will begin with a never-before-seen collaboration between two unique and innovative performances. Hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari and light show dance team iLuminate will kick-start the celebration on Saturday, May 26. Get [...]

illuminate. innovate. indianapolis. Every year, the 500 Festival welcomes race weekend in Indianapolis with the city's grandest welcome party, the IPL 500 Festival Parade. The celebration takes a new form each year with a different theme to highlight the stories, the people, the inspiration for float designs and the Grand [...]

   2018 grand marshals prove they're better together Two is better than one. That can be true in many basic ways, but when the two people complement each other like Abby Abel and Mitch Bonar, the saying lives beyond its meaning. Ever since they met through their high school’s [...]

New Year's resolutions are fading and the winter blues are sinking in. However, there is light at the end of the cold, dark tunnel. Race weekend is just four months away and the only “blues” to be of concern will be those of the Indiana sky on the final weekend [...]

  The 500 Festival is excited to announce the theme for the 2018 IPL 500 Festival Parade! This year's theme was inspired by two very important trends of the 500 Festival, the state of Indiana, and the city of Indianapolis. 2018 Parade Theme: Every May, the world turns its focus [...]

The 500 Festival made a visit to see Eva Kor, our 2017 IPL 500 Festival Parade Grand Marshal, at the CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, Indiana this week. In true Eva fashion, she was ready to walk through the entire facility describing each segment of the [...]