Ticket Prices:
$15 in advance
$20 at the gate
When the Muncie Downtown Development Partnership was founded in 2001, the DWNTWN events director said it was the committee’s goal to showcase the vacant spaces available downtown and to give the area a better image.
Fourteen years ago, they hosted the first Muncie Gras. Cheryl Crowder, the DWNTWN events director, said they originally hoped for a turnout of 500 people and ended up with approximately 5,000 people.
Crowder said preparation begins four months in advance each year. She starts off by organizing the entertainment for the event.
Muncie Gras this year will have two stages for live music, hosted by Be Here Now and The Acoustic Room. Entertainment also includes the Blue Moon Sideshow Circus, belly dancers, fire spinners, a drag show and a male revue. Muncie Gras will also have other activities such as a mechanical bull, bumper cars and a stunt jump.
“Promotion is a big part of preparation,” Crowder said. “We promote through ticket locations and bars, radio, television, social media and 10,000 information beads distribution in town.”
DWNTWN also prepares for the event by notifying and preparing food vendors and the indoor and outdoor bars within the gates. There will be a total of 10 outdoor bars and a handful of indoor bars.
This year, Muncie Gras was pushed back a week later than it has been in the past several years in order to accommodate students’ spring breaks and finals.
Muncie Gras averages between 7,000-9,000 attendees each year. Crowder said half of the attendees are Ball State students.
Kevin Jewett, a junior biology major, will be attending for the first time.
“I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun and it’s something everyone should do at Ball State at least once,” said Jewett. “I heard it’s kind of crazy and wild, so it will be an interesting experience.”
He said he is expecting a fair amount of drinking and hoping for good live music and local food.
Saturday at 10 a.m., members of the partnership will help set up gates, tents, vendors’ stations, bars, stages and electricity -- all before the gates open at 7 p.m.
Crowder said DWNTWN charges entry for the event tickets to fund other DWNTWN sponsored events throughout the year, such as Moonlight Movies, BSU Parent Freshman Orientation, Brown Bag Lunches, After Hours Art Reels, Gobble Wobble and Light Up DWNTWN.
MITS buses will be running from 7 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday night. Buses and trolleys will run through the Village and the Lyndenbrook area. Uber, a taxi service, will also give free rides within the city limits.
It will take place in the 200 and 300 blocks of S. Walnut Street and the 100 blocks of East and West Charles Street.
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