IBE Summer Celebration season returns to Indianapolis
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R&B royalty SWV will rock Carroll Stadium during the 2025 IBE Summer Celebration. Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
The marquee event of Indiana Black Expo's programming is back to celebrate the summer and promote unity within the Circle City.
Why it matters: IBE's Summer Celebration is the largest annual fundraiser for the statewide nonprofit and an Indianapolis staple that has welcomed crowds for more than five decades.
How it works: Proceeds generated by the event pay for year-round initiatives related to education, business development, community learning, performing arts, college scholarships and more.
- Since 1983, IBE has provided more than $5 million in college scholarships.
The big picture: The gathering arrives just one weekend after a mass shooting occurred in downtown Indianapolis, hours after the city's Fourth of July fireworks.
- Two were killed and five were wounded in the shooting, sparking public safety changes and a proposal to extend the youth curfew in Marion County to get kids off the street two hours earlier each night.
- The Summer Celebration suffered its own gun violence when 10 people were hurt in separate downtown shootings during the 2010 festivities.
What they're saying: Organizers and police are focused on making IBE's 2025 Summer Celebration safe.
- "It will take every sector — families, faith leaders, businesses, schools, elected officials and grassroots organizations — working side by side to rebuild the village it takes to raise and protect our children," IBE president and CEO Alice Watson said in a statement.
Flashback: The first Indiana Black Expo gathering took place in 1971 and was inspired by the Rev. Jesse Jackson-led Operation PUSH exposition held in Chicago in 1969.
- Donny Hathaway, an NBA-ABA game and crowning the first Indiana Black Expo Queen were highlights of the inaugural Summer Celebration.
If you go: The 2025 IBE Summer Celebration runs through July 20. The full list of events can be found here.
- Here are a few can't-miss standouts.
📽️ The Black Film Festival in IBE's Black Box Theater on Saturday will feature the premiere of IBE's "Telling Our Story: A Month Is Not Enough" documentary.
💼 Monday and Tuesday's Business Conference at the Indiana Convention Center will offer free workshops for small businesses on topics like preparation strategies for commercial loans and economic trends.
📚 Thursday's Education Conference is headlined by keynote speeches from Veritas Schools founder Brandon P. Fleming and Shaun Woodly, creator of the "Teach Hustle Inspire" movement.
🏆 The Pacers Sports & Entertainment luncheon on July 18 will honor people like Deniece Williams, Wendell Pierce, Chiney Ogwumike and Alfre Woodard.
🎵 IBE's Music Heritage Festival outdoor concert returns to Carroll Stadium July 18 with Keith Sweat, SWV, Cameo, Deniece Williams and Christopher Williams taking the stage.
🩺 The Indiana Health Fair takes place from July 18-20 in the Indiana Convention Center, offering more than $4,000 worth of free health screenings.
🎤 DJ Kid Capri, Da Brat and Larenze Tate will be in the house for IBE's All White Affair Concert July 19 at the Indiana Convention Center.
⛪ IBE's Gospel Explosion will close things out on July 20 with gospel recording artists Anthony Brown & group therAPy.