FORTVILLE – Summerfest returns to Fortville on July 19, but with a few distinct changes.

This year’s festival is being organized by the Fortville Business Association, which was formed in February to run Discover Fortville initiatives.

Instead of taking place entirely in Landmark Park, the festival will start out with yoga in the park at 9 a.m., followed by a Main Street Marketplace from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including sidewalk sales, artisan booths, a Kids Zone and live music right on Main Street.

The party moves back to Landmark Park at 4 p.m., where two local businesses – Moon Drops Distillery and Taxman Brewing, as well as Pilgrimage Winery in Cambridge City – will be serving adult beverages, while food trucks will be on hand to feed the crowd.

Festival goers can also enjoy Libby’s Ice Cream and a collection of yard games like cornhole and yard-sized Connect Four.

Live music will be provided by Radio Junkies starting at 5 p.m. and Alyssa Campbell starting at 7:30 p.m, followed by a fireworks show at dusk.

Longtime Fortville resident, Milda Sterrett, said Summerfest is a time-honored tradition for the town.

“It’s been around for several years,” she said.

The festival drew more than 10,000 people in 2023.

This year’s biggest sponsor is Hancock County Tourism, which hopes to draw a number of people to Summerfest not only within but from outside of Hancock County.

Summerfest got its start when a local resident started hosting an annual fireworks show funded mostly by him, as well as donations. Eventually the local chamber of commerce started organizing vendors in Landmark Park in conjunction with the show.

Later on, Fortville Action, Inc. took over the event and expanded it to include vendor booths, food trucks and live music.

For years, Sterrett and her husband, Bob, helped organize Summerfest as members of Fortville Action, a grassroots group devoted to enhancing the town.

“A lot of us are getting too old for all the set-up work, so I’m glad the business association has taken it over,” she said.

The FBA consists of multiple Fortville business owners who aim to promote the town’s commercial district while fostering a sense of unity and community pride.

In February, the group got the green light from town council to take over both Summerfest and Winterfest, two time-honored traditions designed to engage the community while also drawing visitors to town.

The FBA hit the ground running, hosting a new springtime event called Main Street in Bloom in May.

The association is also taking over a fall street festival known as Visit the Ville.

FBA president, Stacy Molander, said organizers plan to rebrand the September street party as Pink Elephant Nights, an homage to the iconic, life-size pink elephant holding a martini in its trunk, in the parking lot of Elite Beverages at 308 W. Broadway St.

The goal for such events is to generate traffic to downtown shops while engaging the community and celebrating the spirit of Fortville, said Molander, who owns the Rusted Window home decor and gift shop at 12 S. Main St.

Downtown driver

The longtime business owner has experience drawing a crowd.

Four years ago she helped organize the first Indiana Peony Festival, held in downtown Noblesville each May. The event drew more than 37,000 visitors this year.

Molander, who previously owned a business in downtown Noblesville, said the peony festival has done a great job of celebrating community while drawing customers into local shops.

“There are some who come to Summerfest who might have never visited our shops on Main Street, so we want to put our best foot forward with hospitality, working together to draw those people in,” she said.

Molander pointed out that Summerfest is a celebration of summer, not the Fourth of July.

“I think a lot of people think we’re celebrating the Fourth two weeks later, but this is a summer festival,” she said, one that just happens to include fireworks.

Molander said this year’s Summerfest has been revamped to draw people to Main Street downtown, whereas past festivals have been held in Landmark Park.

Vendors would park their cars along Main Street, she said, taking up precious parking space for local businesses.

This year, the first half of Summerfest takes place right on Main Street. Food trucks will be limited during the day, said Molander, in hopes that festival goers will choose to dine at local restaurants.

Moving the party over to the park in the afternoon not only gives the community a great space to gather for outdoor music, she said, but also reopens Main Street so that visitors can patronize downtown restaurants for dinner.

Ideally, shop owners can close up shop at 5 p.m. and head over to enjoy the festival, she said.

Molander is hopeful this year’s Summerfest changes will both enhance the festival and boost local businesses.

Efforts have been made to provide as much parking as possible downtown, she said, including several downtown parking lots and parking spots along the streets.

Molander encourages guests to bring lawn chairs and picnic blankets to the park to enjoy a classic summer evening downtown among friends.