Indianapolis, IN
Indiana did not see an influx of traffic on solar eclipse day like predicted. What happened?
Solar eclipse reaches totality in Indianapolis
Solar eclipse watchers experienced the moment of totality from the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
Indiana State Police expected thousands of visitors to view the total solar eclipse. Governor Eric Holcomb even signed and emergency order. But the state didn’t see nearly the number of tourists expected.
The April 8 solar eclipse was predicted to be big day for Indiana tourism, and while in many ways it still was, the crowds were not what local officials predicted.
Here’s what happened during the 2024 total solar eclipse.
Read more from the Herald-Times: Eclipse day was sunny in Indiana. Where were the crowds?
Bloomington’s numbers were lower than expected
Instead of 300,000 spectators, as multiple officials projected, Bloomington saw tens of thousands, according to early estimates, The Herlad-Times reported.
While the smaller-than-expected crowds enabled the city to escape snarled traffic, the overestimates also kept some Bloomington residents from leaving their homes and attending the local events, including those at Switchyard Park and Memorial Stadium.
At the Bloomington Police Department, officers of all ranks were scheduled to work 12-hour shifts. But they were cut to 10 hours as the day progressed and the anticipated crowds failed to appear.
Nashville also saw lower numbers than predicted
Between 50,000 and 100,000 eclipse viewers were expected in Nashville and Brown County, an estimated 20,000 showed up.
Indianapolis saw the most tourists, but still lower than estimated
Indiana State Police told IndyStar in March they were expecting about as much traffic for the eclipse as the city sees for the Indy 500, which can be anywhere from 200,000 to 250,000 visitors.
Clare Clark, senior communications manager for Visit Indy, confirmed that Indianapolis welcomed 125,000 visitors for the eclipse, with representation from all 50 states and 35 countries.
Why was solar eclipse viewing attendance lower than expected?
According to NASA, the path of totality for this year’s eclipse was between 108 and 122 miles wide, or about 72% wider, at the high end, than the eclipse in 2017. This year, about 31.6 million people lived in the path of totality, compared with 12 million in 2017.
The eclipse this year also passed over “more cities and densely populated areas” than in 2017, NASA said.
That meant people had more options as to where to travel, reducing the likelihood of congestion for any particular area.
Several Indiana cities had reported chances of cloud cover during the eclipse, which may have also been a reason less tourists came to Indiana, but neither Indianapolis or Bloomington ended up having any clouds block the view of the solar event.
Schools being closed for the day also helped reduce normal traffic in cities.
Local events, tourism still saw success despite fewer visitors than planned
Despite getting fewer visitors than planned, several cities in the state still saw great success.
Airbnb said Indianapolis was the #1 most booked destination within the path of totality and there was a virtual sell-out of hotel rooms on Sunday night ahead of the eclipse, Visit Indy said.
Visit Indy also broke their record for the most website traffic in a single day on the day of the eclipse, meaning tourists and locals were looking for things to do.
Mike McAfee, executive director of Visit Bloomington, said hotels and short-term rentals were “near capacity,” though he won’t have final data until later this month.
IU spokesman Mark Bode said the university hosted “tens of thousands of visitors and students across at least seven separate events,” including “nearly 10,000” at Memorial Stadium.
Katie Wiseman is a trending news intern at IndyStar. Contact her at klwiseman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @itskatiewiseman.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It was another busy week in high school sports in central Indiana and ‘The Zone Extra’ has it all covered.
Athlete of the week and Guerin Catholic senior outfielder Ian Taylor is off to a scorching hot start to the young season. Check out his interview as well as Guerin Catholic head coach Dave Schrage talk about Taylor’s success.
The Johnson County baseball tournament came to a close. See highlights from Center Grove’s tournament victory.
The 4A baseball coaches poll was released as well as the 3A softball coaches poll.
The former Columbus North gymnastics coach, John Hinds, passed away at 88 years old.
Center Grove head softball coach Alyssa Coleman joins the show for a coaches corner conversation.
See highlights from the Colts Local Pro Day, featuring several former Hoosiers and Purdue’s Devin Mockobee.
Girls lacrosse is in the first season as an IHSAA emerging sport.
All of that, and more, can be found in the full The Zone Extra show above.
(WISH) — A tornado watch was issued until 3 a.m. EDT Saturday for counties northwest and west of Indianapolis, and into Illinois.
Indiana counties in the watch area are Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Elkhart, Fountain, Fulton, Howard, Kosciusko, La Porte, Marshall, Miami, Montgomery, Parke, Pulaski, Putnam, St. Joseph, Starke, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren and White. The watch area includes the cities of Crawfordsville, Elkhart, Lafayette, Lebanon, South Bend, Terre Haute, and West Lafayette.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has issued two watches in Indiana. The other one until midnight EDT Friday includes the Indiana counties of Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter. That includes the city of Gary. That watch also extends into Illinois.
Storms on Friday night in central Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota led to dozens of confirmed tornado warnings. The storms in central Illinois has gusts up to 80 mph, and tornadoes embedded in heavy rain.
An alert issued after 10:30 p.m. Friday from the National Weather Service at Indianapolis said, “A line of strong thunderstorms is nearing the state line with a history of widespread damaging winds and tornadoes. The line is expected to continue to produce damaging winds as it moves into Indiana with the potential for additional tornadoes. The line is then expected to gradually weaken as it moves further into the state.”
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Athenaeum in downtown Indianapolis is getting ready to welcome spring with its annual St. Benno Festival this Saturday.
Organizers say it’s one of the longest-running cultural festivals in Indianapolis.
St. Benno Festival is based on the German tradition of “Frühlingsfest,” the springtime version of Oktoberfest, Athenaeum Foundation President Craig Mince says.
“It would always be the festival that would open up the beer garden,” Mince said. “So that was kind of their kickoff of the spring and that warmer season. “
The Athenaeum’s celebration focuses on St. Benno, the patron saint of anglers and the city of Munich, Germany.
There’s a lot of folklore surrounding St. Benno. He’s said to have created Bach beer. He also had a sidekick, “Einbeck,” which means “billy goat” in German.
Legend has it that when the invaders were coming to Munich, he threw the key to a church into a body of water. Years later, he caught a fish that had eaten the key and retrieved it.
“When the German immigrants came here to central Indiana, Indianapolis in particular, they started to organize,” Mince said. “They celebrated Benno. They celebrated Bach beer. So that was kind of the beginning of this institution.”
St. Benno Fest will include lots of beer, pretzels, and Gomez BBQ’s doner kebab.
Francene Thomas, the Athenaeum’s event and festivals manager, says there’s a lot of thought that goes into the menu.
“We want to definitely bring the tradition of this festival and continue that, but also, just bring some fresh flavor to it, too.”
The celebration serves as a fundraiser for the Athenaeum. Money raised will go back into maintenance and other events that promote German culture.
Tickets are $25 and can be bought in advance on the Athenaeum website. St. Benno Fest is a 21+ event and runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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