Come to Haughville Sept. 19 to celebrate the differences between Indianapolis communities by sharing a food most cultures share — rice and beans.

The annual Rice and Beans Festival is free and features live music and international flavors, including jollof rice from West Africa, rajma chawal from India and red rice and beans from New Orleans. The event seeks to showcase and unite different cultures.

Performers at the festival include local musicians Zella Mae Elm, Aiden Christopher, Meghan Cristeen Martin, Carter Shelburne Band, nopeople and Casper Willow. 

The festival will be from noon to 4 p.m. at the Fonseca Theatre Company, 2508 W. Michigan St. 

For more information, call Fonseca Theatre Company at 317-653-1519 or email them.

Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.

Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.

Close window

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

Celebrate the food that brings cultures together at this festival

by Enrique Saenz, Mirror Indy
September 16, 2026

<h1>Celebrate the food that brings cultures together at this festival</h1> <p class="byline">by Enrique Saenz, Mirror Indy <br />September 16, 2026</p> <p>Come to Haughville Sept. 19 to celebrate the differences between Indianapolis communities by sharing a food most cultures share — rice and beans.</p> <p>The annual Rice and Beans Festival is free and features live music and international flavors, including jollof rice from West Africa, rajma chawal from India and red rice and beans from New Orleans. The event seeks to showcase and unite different cultures.</p> <p>Performers at the festival include local musicians <a href="https://www.instagram.com/zellamaeelm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zella Mae Elm</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/aidenchristophermusic" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aiden Christopher</a>, <a href="https://www.artmixindiana.org/megan-martin-bio" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meghan Cristeen Martin</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cartershelburne/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Carter Shelburne Band</a>, <a href="https://www.nopeople.band/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nopeople</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/casperwillow_music/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Casper Willow</a>. </p> <p>The festival will be from noon to 4 p.m. at the <a href="https://fonsecatheatre.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fonseca Theatre Company</a>, 2508 W. Michigan St. </p> <p>For more information, call Fonseca Theatre Company at 317-653-1519 or <a href="mailto:info@fonsecatheatre.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">email them</a>.</p> <p><em>Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is</em> <a href="https://mirrorindy.org/donors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>funded through grants and donations</em></a> <em>from individuals, foundations and organizations.</em></p> <p><em>Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or</em> <em>enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at</em> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/enriquesaenz.bsky.social"><em>@enriquesaenz</em></a><em><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/enriquesaenz.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">.</a></em><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/enriquesaenz.bsky.social"><em>bsky.social</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/haughville-rice-and-beans-festival-2026/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org&quot;&gt;Mirror Indy&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-Mirror-Indy-square-logo-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=91047&amp;amp;ga4=G-X0R0QW371R&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://mirrorindy.org/haughville-rice-and-beans-festival-2026/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/mirrorindy.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Copy to Clipboard