Erin Kelly, program director for the Spirit & Place Festival, recently talked about this singular event happening in Central Indiana. The festival, which runs from Nov. 1-10, is constructed to delve into and celebrate community life in a number of ways. Kelly describes it as a means for both new and longtime residents to connect to new ideas, people, and places across the region.

Unlike other festivals, Spirit & Place allows the community to drive the content of the events. “The festival is created for and by the community,” Kelly said. The staff of Spirit & Place plans the opening and closing events, while the remainder of the programming comes from local artists, scholars, congregations, social service organizations, and other nonprofits. The festival, founded in 1996, resides on the campus of Indiana University Indianapolis.

Each year the festival takes on a theme, and this year’s theme is “gratitude.” Events span from arts and humanities to religion. “Indianapolis has this amazing thing that you’re not going to find anywhere else in the world,” Kelly added on how it shows the togetherness of the city.

Events range from family-friendly interactive activities to story hours and more will be on tap, especially during the first Saturday, Nov. 2, of the festival. Those events will take place in neighborhoods like Irvington and on the south side of the city. It will also happen next weekend at Lawrence and Eagle Creek Park, amongst other areas and will be a relief for those who do not want to face the crowds after the Monumental Marathon.

Participating groups include Ivy Tech, the Peace Learning Center, Freedom’s United Christian Church, and the Indianapolis Women’s Chorus. Film screenings, dance performances, lectures and self-care events focusing on gratitude are also scheduled for the 10 days.

Find more information and register for the events at the festival’s official website spiritandplace.org. Most events are free, but registration is suggested. “It helps us prepare. It’s good to know how many chairs to set out,” Kelly noted. Opening and closing nights have special plans scheduled, thus are especially anticipated.

Spirit & Place is the one-of-a-kind celebration embracing community engagement and collaboration so basic for community change, and which packages under one umbrella a variety of activities: something for every taste.