Indianapolis will again marry its passions for sports and the arts with the SWISH Arts & Culture Festival 2026 April 3-6. While the city is hosting the 2026 NCAA Men’s Final Four, SWISH 2026 will feature immersive experiences including live music, dance, visual art and food. The festival provides paid opportunities to over 200 local artists, performers, vendors and chefs.
Get the full schedule of SWISH 2026 performances.
SWISH 2026 will be free and family-friendly. The new sidewalk galleries will feature a series of 60 vinyl-wrapped storefront murals with original artwork and poems by more than 40 local artists and poets.
At the Epicurean Market and food festival, more than 50 vendors will gather to celebrate Indy as the crossroads of sports, food, art, music and culture.
Keep an eye out for five commemorative posters created by Herron School of Art and Design students that will be printed and distributed for free throughout the weekend. And don’t forget to reserve your Walk & Talk art tour featuring stops at key SWISH activities with Sampson Levingston’s Through2Eyes.
Xavier Gray, an artist born and raised in Indianapolis, will have his piece “Believe” featured as part of the SWISH 2026 Sidewalk Galleries. As a longtime lover of sports, the SWISH opportunity marks a full-circle moment for him.
“My brand FlyBox Sports is a homage to (sports trading card company) SkyBox,” Gray said. “Growing up, I always wanted to design my own basketball cards. So being able to be a part of SWISH is really special for me.”
After performing on Mass Ave as part of the SWISH 2021, Indianapolis band Feverdream will be back, this time performing on Georgia Street at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 3. Having witnessed firsthand the success of the first SWISH five years ago, Feverdream vocalist Mikey Garrett said he hopes to see more events that intertwine sports and the arts.
“Sports and art should probably go together a lot more often,” Garrett said. “I got to see it the last time it happened, and it was such a unique experience to have so many people in town. The footprint of it is really exciting.”
SWISH 2026 is made possible by the Indy Arts Council and Indiana Sports Corp, in partnership with Forty5 Presents, GANGGANG, Epicurean Indy and the Local Organizing Committee for the 2026 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
Since 2021, when the state of Indiana hosted the entire NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Indy Arts Council has helped curate many citywide performing arts initiatives. Arts and culture festivities also took place during the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game and Taylor Swift’s 2024 Eras Tour at Lucas Oil Stadium.
With all of these festivities, the Indy Arts Council has worked to make sure the city’s arts community has been accurately represented, explained Judith Thomas, co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the 2026 NCAA Men’s Final Four and president and CEO at Indy Arts Council.
“The Arts Council is very focused on making sure that we have an equitable process and that we don’t just handpick people,” Thomas said. “It’s a group discussion. We have to hit various genres and types of music.”
Thomas gets excited about the innovative ways in which the city can come together to create something uniquely its own. “I’ve gone to the last two Final Fours in Phoenix and San Antonio. They were great places for it, but we take it to a whole new level from that local aspect and that local pride,” she said.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Seth Johnson is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach him at seth.johnson4291@gmail.com.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
