ISFA is Indiana’s largest festivals
and events membership organization.
It publishes the Indiana Festival Guide each year, featuring nearly 600 festival listings. Festival and event members receive promotion, leadership and education opportunities.
We’ve got it covered!
500,000 copies of the Indiana Festival Guides are distributed at more than 1,200 locations in all 92 Indiana counties each year.
Interested in becoming an ISFA member
or publishing your festival, event, or organization in the Indiana Festival Guide?
Click “JOIN US” for more information!
Four ways to get your Indiana Festival Guide
~ ISFA News & Updates ~
Indiana Tourism is on the MOVE...
Visitor Spending Increases, 20 Co-op Campaigns, and Miles of Impact!
Indiana State Festivals Association is proud to have their ISFA 1 Promotional Vehicle featured in their latest impact video.
Indiana State Festival Association is a proud supporter of the Indiana Fairs and Festivals Convention!
< Scroll through Images from the Past Conventions
Join us next year, January 8-9, 2027, for the Indiana Fairs and Festivals Convention.
How to Plan & Produce Your Festival / Event
The Indiana State Festivals Association and Visit Indiana have provided a comprehensive manual to help you plan every stage of your event, from concept to post-festival evaluation. In addition, other “RESOURCES & HOW-TO GUIDES” are also available.
Learn more>Indiana State Festivals Association Queen & Princess Pageants
We are excited to bring back the ISFA Scholarship Pageant again this year! See more details by clicking the button below…
IOTD & ISFA Celebrates Hoosier Energy Support
Hoosier Energy started the Festival Guide as a community service to their membership in 1972 and it quickly spread statewide. Hoosier Energy had a vision for travelers to, and in, Indiana. That vision still shines brightly years later, just like the millions of light bulbs that Hoosier Energy powers across this great State. All of us in the travel and tourism industry, including our ISFA member festivals, owe a debt of thanks to the foresight of Hoosier Energy.
CLICK HERE to read more...Mark Your Calendar
Upcoming Board Meetings
January 2 & 3 – Meetings at Indianapolis Marriott East | Freedom Room
January 2, 1 pm – Board Meeting
January 3, 11:30 am – ISFA Membership Luncheon, Awards & Board Meeting
April 19, 2 pm – Board Meeting at Horseshoe Casino (Indianapolis – Shelbyville), 4300 N Michigan Rd, Shelbyville, IN
July 19, 2 pm – Board Meeting at Indianapolis 500 Festival, 1125 Brookside Avenue, Indianapolis, IN
November 6 & 7 – Meetings at Greenfield Central High School | Cougar Room, 810 N Broadway St. Greenfield, IN
NOVEMBER 6
6:15 pm – Dinner
7:00 pm – ISFA Annual Membership Meeting
7:20 pm – ISFA Associates Annual Membership Meeting
8:00 pm – ISFA Board Retreat meeting
NOVEMBER 7
9:00 am – ISFA Board Retreat Meeting
4:45 pm – ISFA Dinner with Board & Pageant Entries
5:30 pm – Pageant Welcome Area Opens
6:00 pm – Doors Open for the ISFA Scholarship Pageants
6:40 pm – Doug Weisheit gives the State of ISFA Presentation to Membership at Pageant
7:00 pm – ISFA Scholarship Pageants Begin
After – Hospitality Suite Open in the Cougar Room following the conclusion of the ISFA Pageants
All ISFA Board Meetings are open to ISFA Members & Public. ISFA likes having members and guests to attend and engage in our 501-c(6) Association.
Questions? Contact ISFA Coordinator Doug Weisheit
765-592-1662 or email info@indianafestivals.org.
Indiana Festival Guide Covers
As produced by Indiana State Festivals Association
ISFA is proud to announce that the following festivals will be featured in upcoming editions of the Indiana Festival Guide:
2026 – The Festivals of Shelby County
2027 – Parke County Covered Bridge Festival
2028 – The Festivals of Madison, Indiana
2029 – The Festivals of Shipshewana & LaGrange County
2030 – The Festivals of Boone County
2031 – The Festivals of Festival Country
2032 – The Festivals of Shelby County
2033 – The Festivals of Perry County
Past Covers:
2025 – The Festivals of Greene County
2024 – Pieorgi Fest
2023 – Festival Country, Johnson County
2022 – 75th Annual Mitchell Persimmon Festival
2021 – The Festivals of Dubois County
2020 – The Festivals of French Lick West Baden
2019 – The Festivals of Clinton County
2018 – Kiwanis Club of South Central Indiana Balloon Fest
2017 – The Festivals of Anderson/Madison County
2016 – Nappanee Apple Festival
2015 – Circus City Festival
2014 – Marshall County Blueberry Festival
2013 – The Battle of Corydon Reenactment
2012 – Riley Festival
2011 – Parke County Covered Bridge Festival
2010 – Swiss Wine Festival
View All Indiana Festival Guide Covers
Sponsored by Shelby County Tourism
2026 ISFA Workshops
Call 765-592-1662 to schedule a workshop.
~ Staff & Board of Directors ~
Staff
ISFA Coordinator & ISFA1 Driver
Regional Account Executives
Board of Directors
~ ISFA AWARDS & HONOREES ~
JOSEPHINE HAUK AWARD
IN HONOR OF JOSEPHINE HAUK (pictured left) – Founding ISFA Board Member, 1992 IFEA Hall of Fame Inductee, Formerly of the Indianapolis 500 Festival
Josephine Hauck was the Executive Director of the 500 Festival for nearly three decades. She transformed it into one of the greatest festivals held in the state and throughout the nation.
Her leadership and strong demeanor lead her to be affectionately known as “General Jo”. Each May she would lead her board and thousands of volunteers in producing the merry month of May in Indianapolis. Founded by civic leaders in 1957, the 500 Festival was created to celebrate the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the annual running of the Indianapolis 500 each May.
Jo Believed strongly in the need for festival planners to share their enthusiasm, ideas, and experience for the betterment of all festivals. She is credited with founding the Indiana State Festivals Association in 1972. An award in her name was established in 1993 and is still given annually at the Indiana State Festivals Association Convention to an individual who has contributed significantly to the building of festivals in the state of Indiana. Josephine was awarded the prestigious Sagamore of the Wabash by two different Indiana Governors. The award is the highest honor the Governor of Indiana can bestow upon one of its citizens.
Josephine was one of the founding fathers of IFEA as well. She worked tirelessly networking with festivals across the country and led the organization in its early years. She attended the annual convention regularly with her husband Kenny who she met while he was serving as President of the 500 Festival in 1967. They were a concerted team and each other’s biggest supporter. She continued to be active in festival work even after her retirement from the 500 Festival in 1992.
Editor’s Note: Josephine Hauck, CFEE, passed away in 1997
ANN RETSECK MEMORIAL GRANT
- This memorial grant is dedicated to Ann Gettinger Retseck for all the time and effort she put into her community and the Merom Bluff Chautauqua. The grant makes attendance to the Annual ISFA Fall Convention possible for ISFA members who need assistance in paying their representatives’ costs.
- Any ISFA Festival member that has not been awarded the Ann Retseck Memorial Grant for the past three (3) conventions is eligible to apply. Applications are open to any member of ISFA whose dues are current.
- The ISFA Board of Directors will award up to a maximum of $1,000.00, usually between $100 and $250 per ISFA Festival member.
- The Grant winner must attend the conference, pay in full and then will be sent a check for the amount of the Ann Retseck Memorial Grant on the Sunday meeting of the ISFA Board of Director Meeting during the Convention weekend.
AWARD WINNERS
2020 Freetown Freedom Festival
2018 North Judson Mint Festival
2015 Northern Indiana Lakeview Festival
2013 Cumberland Art Goes to the Market
Fun Fest by the River
The Elkhart Jazz Festival
Yellowstone Trail Fest
Fest of the Turning Leaves
2011 Roann Covered Bridge Festival
HARRELL MEMORIAL GRANT
- This memorial grant is dedicated to Charlene “Shorty” Harrell of the Lagro Good Ole Days Festival, who passed away on November 9, 2012 while attending the ISFA Fall Convention.
- The grant makes attendance to the Annual ISFA Fall Convention possible for ISFA members who need assistance in paying their representatives’ costs.
- Any ISFA Festival member that has a budget of less than $10,000 and has not been awarded the Charlene “Shorty” Harrell Memorial Grant for the past three (3) conventions is eligible to apply. Applications are open to any member of ISFA whose dues are current.
- The ISFA Board of Directors will award up to a maximum of $1,000.00, usually between $100 and $250 per ISFA Festival member.
- The Grant winner must attend the conference, pay in full and then will be sent a check for the amount of the Charlene “Shorty” Harrell Memorial Grant on the Sunday meeting of the ISFA Board of Director Meeting during the Convention weekend.
AWARD WINNERS
2020 Freetown Freedom Festival
2018 North Judson Mint Festival
ISFA – KIRK WORKS HALL OF FAME AWARD WINNERS
2024 Dale A. Gerber – Sound & Lighting
2024 Doug Weisheit – Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb
2020 Don Morrison, Blueberry Festival
2019 Kirk Works, Swiss Wine Festival