After all the negotiating, the committees, the planning, the building and refurbishing, and the blood, sweat & tears, it’s finally here. The activities and events surrounding Super Bowl XLVI officially begin next Friday, January 27th.
However, local events kick off tomorrow, January 21 with Super Saturday: Get Your Game On!. From 12 Noon – 4 PM, enjoy an afternoon of football fun for the whole family at the Indianapolis Central Library.
- Take part in the “Super Scavenger Hunt with Prizes.”
- Meet Amanda Bocik with the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, who will present “A Guide to Super Bowl Events.”
- Kids can enjoy “Balloon Twisting in the Atrium”
- Create a custom football helmet design on Learning Curve laptops
- Participate in the “Digital Football Experience” in the green screen theater.
Admission to this family-friendly event is free. More information.
Official Super Bowl XLVI Events
Downtown Indy will come to life at 3:00 PM, Friday, January 27, with the opening of the Super Bowl Village on Georgia St., The Huddle at Circle Centre Mall, and the NFL Experience at the Convention Center. Today, we’ll take a look at the Super Bowl Village and The Huddle.
Click for larger map and schedule of Indianapolis' Super Bowl Village (PDF opens in new window)
Super Bowl Village
For ten days, from Friday, January 27 through Super Bowl Sunday on February 5, the Super Bowl Village in the heart of downtown Indy will be home to a free, family-friendly, interactive festival of football! The three-block long village will feature a number of venues and activities for the whole family to enjoy, including:
- Daily Entertainment – FREE live music all day long, presented on two stages. Great headliners close the show each night, including Poison’s Bret Michaels on Opening Day, Patti Labelle, Dierks Bentley, and Big Head Todd & The Monsters. Super Bowl ambassador Mike Epps will also make special appearances throughout the week. Download the complete list of artists and performance schedule. (PDF opens in new window)
- On Friday, February 3, Party Rock is in the House with LMFAO.
- Saturday the 4th features some of Indy’s favorite indie and jam bands getting the crowd pumped up for the Big Game in rockin’ style, including The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Here Come The Mummies, Umphrey’s McGee, and North Mississippi Allstars. And it’s all FREE!
- Zipline – rides will cost $10.00, but the 800 foot long ride, the longest temporary zipline in the US, should, in our opinion, be well-worth the cost for those adventurous enough to try it.
- Special Events
- “Fire and Ice” Lounges will provide food and beverage sales throughout the Super Bowl Village.
- Super Dash, a competition where fans of the opposing Super Bowl teams try to generate the most energy in human-sized “hamster wheels.” The top 100-yard dash scores will be announced each day.
- Kinect NFL PLAY 60 FanDome – an immersive 360 degree inflated dome with full-body gaming on Kinect for Xbox 360.
- Ice Gurus from The Food Network show Ice Brigade will do live ice sculpting performances.
- Tailgate Town – tailgating competitions and football turf offering interactive game playing.
- ESPN Broadcast Studio- from Monday, January 30 – Sunday, February 5, 2012, more than 110 hours of some of ESPN’s most popular TV and Radio shows will be broadcast from Indy, originating from Pan Am Plaza, including:
- Mike & Mike in the Morning
- SportsCenter
- SportsNation
- NFL Live
- NFL32
- Special four-hour edition of Sunday NFL Countdown on Super Bowl Sunday.
The Huddle
During the days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, the former Nordstrom space at Indy’s Circle Center Mall will become The Huddle, providing visitors with entertainment and dining options, as well as a retail store operated by LIDS Sports Group on second floor.
During the day, The Huddle will feature:
- Chef’s Table
- End Zone Beer Garden
- Warming area with limited seating
- NFL Ticket Exchange
- LIDS Locker Room @ Circle Centre – 23,000 square feet of retail space with a wide assortment of Super Bowl and NFL merchandise.
- Entertainment
- LIVE WISH-TV broadcasts from the 24-Hour News 8 Huddle at Circle Centre studio
- Live morning broadcasts of Clear Channel’s Bob & Tom Show on Thursday, February 2 and Friday, February 3.
At night, the space becomes The Huddle After Hours, a dance club/ultra-lounge featuring bars, food and headliner DJs. Contemporary furniture, a VIP lounge, and a full sound & light system will provide exciting entertainment for adults 21 and over looking to party. (Note: a cover charge will apply.)
Getting There
As we mentioned in or last post about Super Bowl event parking, parking downtown could be problematic. Probably the best alternative is Park and Ride. For $2.00 a person, you can reserve a parking spot at one of three locations and ride a convenient shuttle right to all the downtown activities.
It all sounds great, doesn’t it? So much to do and see, we just can’t wait! And we’ve hardly scratched the surface.
In our next post, we will take a look at the exciting NFL Experience, 500,000 square feet of interactive football fun, including games, displays, entertainment attractions, kids’ football clinics, free autograph sessions and the largest football memorabilia show ever.
We’ll also look at some of the most popular events leading up to Super Bowl XLVI, such as the NFL Charities Celebrity Bowling Classic and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon.
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