Statewide Centennial Celebrations

Statewide Centennial Celebrations

Indiana State Fair

The pageant in connection with the State Fair was held September 4-8, 1916. The events that were held prior to the pageant included tumblers, daredevils and acrobats. The goal of this presentation was to have a statewide celebration, not just confined to a single region or locality. The presentation was topped off with a fireworks display. The following scenes were included in their pageant:

• "Primitive Indians" and the coming of LaSalle
• Old Vincennes, territorial government
• The Battle of Tippecanoe
• Corydon & establishing Indiana as a state
• Morgan's Raiders
• The Return of the boys in blue

Music Festival

One of the final events in the celebration of the Centennial was the Music Festival put on in Indianapolis with the Boston-National Grand Opera Company. They performed three operas at the Murat Theater, "Andrea Chenier," "Faust," and Verdi's "Requiem." A matinee performance of "Iris" was also undertaken. An oratorio was also sung at the State Fair Coliseum. The Music Festival was held in connection with the grand pageant of Indiana (see program below).

Pageant of Indiana

Photographs of the Pageant of Indiana

The Pageant of Indiana was held October 2-7, 1916 on the grounds of Riverside Park in Indianapolis. This was intended to be the defining pageant marking the Centennial and to show the development of the whole state. Since there was not an official state flag for Indiana at this time, one was created for the Centennial. It consisted of three vertical stripes, two green ones on the sides representing Indiana's forests and a center stripe of blue. On the blue background were 13 stars representing the original colonies, with 5 others symbolizing states that entered the Union before Indiana, and a large star in the center for the Hoosier State. The following were some of the events depicted in the pageant:

• LaSalle on the rivers of Indiana
• The Taking of Vincennes
• Tippecanoe Campaign
• Becoming a State
• Days of the Flatboats
• Canals & Railroads
• The Underground Railroad
• Civil War
• Wagon and the Plow