Speedway Stroll Has One Friday Left to Prove Itself on Main Street

On the afternoon of Friday, October 16, the Town of Speedway called off that night's Speedway Stroll. The reason was the forecast wind gusts. More than 40 artists, crafters, businesses and community organizations were planning to take part, and many of them would have set up tents and outdoor displays. The same notice reminded everyone that Main Street was still open and that "David's Famous Chili," made especially for the Stroll, was still being served at Barbecue & Bourbon.

That chili shows what the Stroll is for. The event was designed around Speedway's own Main Street restaurants and bars, with no outside vendors brought in. With October gone, this Friday, November 6, is the last scheduled chance to show the Town that the idea works.

A three-night pilot that now has two

The Town introduced Speedway Stroll in late August as a pilot. It planned one Friday a month from September through November, all on the sidewalks of Main Street. The announcement said plainly that the Town was "intentionally starting small." It plans to learn from the first three Strolls, listen to businesses, artists and attendees, and then decide whether to grow the event.

Here is how the three nights have gone so far:

The Town's count went from 26 participants at the first Stroll to more than 40 planning to join in October. That bigger October group never got its night, so that growth hasn't been tested on the sidewalk. The original announcement also says the Stroll runs weather permitting, with no rain dates. If November falls through as well, the pilot ends with only September's night to judge it by.

There's also a small question about the time. The August announcement lists 4 to 8 p.m. for every date, but the October notice gave 5 to 8 p.m. Check the Town of Speedway's Stroll page Friday afternoon before you head out, especially if the wind picks up again.

No food trucks, on purpose

"No food trucks will be brought in for Speedway Stroll," the Town wrote, encouraging attendees to "discover and support Speedway's existing restaurants, bars, shops, and businesses."

So dinner is part of the event. Artists and crafters set up along the 1300 to 1500 blocks of Main Street, and live music plays at the Plaza on Main. The Town is also running a gathering area in its parking lot north of Barbecue & Bourbon, with tables and chairs. Speedway businesses and nonprofits based off Main Street use it to introduce themselves, and it's a place to sit down with food bought from local restaurants.

Here's what sits in and near the Stroll's blocks, going by each business's own site:

• Barbecue & Bourbon, 1414 Main St., right beside the Town lot.
• Speedway City Garage, 1552 Main St., home to Founders Grounds Coffee and Pax Verum Brewing.
• O'Reilly's Irish Pub, 1552 N. Main St., Suite A, same address as the Garage, open daily 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
• Dawson's on Main, a full-service restaurant on Main Street.

Speedway City Garage is the newest name on that list. It opened in April 2026, a partnership between Founders Grounds Coffee and Lapel-based Pax Verum Brewing. By early May, Fox 59 reported it was already busy at the corner of 16th and Main. In the same story, Fox 59 noted that Santa's Pit Stop and the Dallara Experience Hub had both opened within the previous year. So the Stroll is only a few months old, and some of the businesses it was built to send people to are barely older.

The DORA reaches past the art

The Stroll's footprint and the drinking district don't line up. The art covers three blocks. Speedway's Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area covers Main Street from 10th Street to 16th Street, according to the Town's DORA reminder. During the Stroll, participating DORA establishments may sell adults a drink to carry through the district.

That puts the south end of Main within walking distance of the art. Daredevil Brewing's Speedway taproom is at 1151 N. Main St., and Big Woods is at 1002 N. Main St. Foyt Wine Vault at 1182 N. Main St. is also in that stretch, but its Speedway location opens by reservation for club members, so plan ahead if you want to stop there. The DORA page includes a map of the businesses that pour to-go drinks. Check it, because not every bar on Main takes part.

The Town's posted rules, in short:

1. DORA drinks are for people 21 and older only.
2. Drinks leave a participating business in a plastic cup. Glass isn't allowed.
3. You can carry no more than two open drinks out at a time.
4. Size limits are 16 ounces of beer or flavored malt beverage; 12 ounces of wine, cider or hard seltzer; and a 10-ounce mixed drink with no more than 2 ounces of liquor.
5. A participating business can refuse entry to someone carrying a drink in.
6. The reminder says the DORA is in effect year-round, January 1 through December 31.

The original Ordinance No. 1388 describes an April 1 to October 31 season, while the newer reminder says year-round. A November Stroll falls in the gap between those two documents. If it matters to your plans, ask the bar before you walk out with a cup. This is general information, not legal advice, and the Town's posted rules are the ones that apply.

Getting there and parking

The Town hasn't posted a November parking notice yet. The October notice gives an idea of how much space the event takes. Street parking on the west side of Main Street in the 1300 to 1500 blocks closed from 1 to 9 p.m., the whole lot at 1426 N. Main St. next to Barbecue & Bourbon closed, and cars left in those spots could be towed. Main Street stayed open to traffic, and businesses stayed reachable. If you live within a few blocks, walking over saves you the hunt for a space.

The empty lot at 1520 N. Main

Walk the 1500 block on Friday and you'll pass 1520 N. Main St., where construction is just getting started. In June, State Bank announced its first Marion County branch at that address and gave an October 2026 opening date. The bank held its groundbreaking on October 8 and now says the branch will open in spring 2027. Its announcement says the building will include space for community engagement and local organizations. Bricks Butcher on Main also lists 1520 North Main Street as its future home and still says "coming soon," with no opening date.

Neither will be open in time for this pilot. Both could be part of Main Street when the Town decides what a 2027 Stroll looks like, and a building with space set aside for local organizations sits right in the middle of the Stroll's blocks.

After November 6

Once the Stroll wraps up, the next Main Street gathering on the Parks & Recreation calendar is Light the Night on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., when Santa arrives on Main Street at the Dallara building. If you caught Music on Main this summer, which we covered in our Centennial-year guide to Main Street, the Stroll is a different kind of event. It's an early-evening walk where the artists are along the sidewalks and dinner comes from the restaurants. The Town has said it will take feedback from businesses, artists and attendees after the pilot before deciding whether to grow the event.

See you on Main Street Friday? Our team at Fishburn Realty Group keeps track of what's opening, what's under construction and what's on the calendar across Speedway, and you can find more on our Speedway neighborhood page. If you'd like to talk about what Main Street's next chapter means for your own place in town, we're glad to help. Start Your Journey with us.