Glow in the Park

People of all ages enjoy a glowing Fishers event

Lainey Akins akinslai000@hsestudents.org

Fishers Parks hosted its annual Glow in the Park event on Saturday, Sept. lots of fun and you got to be with your friends. For some guests, the crowd 17. Participants experienced a free, fun lled night of dancing, while being splashed with glowing neon paint. However, this year, they added an exclusive 21+ event that preceded the regular family night on Friday, Sept. 16. is new event required attendees to make a $15 purchase in advance, or $20 the day of the event. e event consisted of performers and plenty of volunteers who all worked together to make the event enjoyable for the participants. e performers from 317 Street Dance Academy, a local dance business, danced on the stage and helped engage the crowd. Adam Wagner works with the Fishers Park and Recreation department and is the event coordinator for Glow in the Park. “[My favorite part is] when the black lights come on and all the lights turn on,” Wagner said. “And then as soon as the paint starts spraying, people go crazy and everybody’s excited.” With a large number of people attending Glow in the Park, it provides an opportunity to connect with local citizens. Sophomore Ava Stiefel took part in Glow in the Park last year. “I thought it was a very fun way to come together as a community,” Stiefel said. “It was and loud music can be too much. To help with this, Glow in the Park had a sensory friendly zone, where participants could go to have a less crowded environment. Last year, there was a sensory zone, but this year it was a whole separate area that was further from the stage. “[ e sensory area is] more spatially friendly, where people aren’t actually bouncing o each other, but a little more spaced out,” Wagner said. Freshman Jacob omas also attended the event the previous year. “It’s very easy to lose [your friends] in the big crowd of people,” omas said. “If you’re hanging out with friends, go in the line at the same time or a little earlier, so you’re already in [the event when they show up].” is year an additional DJ was added to the mix to have a total of two DJ’s at the event to allow them to play o of each other. e performers made use of the stage’s catwalk to excite the crowd. “We’ve added additional pieces to the catwalk, so instead of just the main catwalk, we actually have a tee at the end,” Wagner said. “So it gives [the performers] a little more walkway to work with and kind of get out amongst the crowd and to be able to spray the paint even farther this year.” Glow in the Park tries to continuously improve each year, as demonstrated by the many changes the park has made to create a more inclusive and enjoyable event. Other students are excited about changes to come in the future. “Fishers is starting to grow bigger and bigger as a city with all [of] their apartments … to have more of a populated city. So [adding the 21+ event] makes sense to me,” omas said. e new 21+ event allowed adults to come together to party and have some adult beverages. “We thought ‘hey, if we’re gonna do this [family night event], let’s try an adult night as well,’ to kind of o er almost a date night type experience that the kids can stay home or be babysat,” Wagner said. Whether participants went to the family friendly night or the 21+ night, both parties got covered in glowing paint and made memories to last them years. “ e most fun part of running [Glow in the Park] would be the pictures that come out of it,” Wagner said. “I tend to kind of run around and make sure everything’s running properly, but I get to sit down a erwards and see the faces, the smiles. e pictures that come out of [Glow in the Park] are usually phenomenal and really catch the experience well.”

Participants of Glow in the Park stand in front of the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater stage. Photo was taken on Sept. 18, 2021. Photo courtesy of Ashley Elrod. TIPS FOR THE EVENT

Be sure to wear a white shirt to make the glow shine.

A plastic bag is useful for protecting your phone.

Bring towels for a er the event.

Glow paint gets shot into the crowd. Photo was taken on Sept. 18, 2021. Photo courtesy of Ashley Elrod. Photo courtesy of Ashley Elrod.Sept. 18, 2021.

Participants enjoy the Glow in the Park event. Photo was taken on Sept. 18, 2021. Photo courtesy of Ashley Elrod, event. Photo was taken on Sept. 18, 2021. Photo courtesy of Ashley Elrod, Wear goggles to protect your eyes.

Design by Lainey Akins.