Second-grade students at Pleasant Crossing Elementary School in Whiteland watch the partial eclipse outside of their school in 2017. Johnson County will be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, and to help fund its festival, the Town of Edinburgh received a $2,000 from the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagment.
DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
With a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse coming in April 2024, local officials are bracing for thousands of visitors to flock to the area to catch the celestial fireworks.
Hotels are booked solid. Area businesses are brainstorming how to capitalize on the influx. And communities are planning special events and festivals to draw people in.
Edinburgh couldn’t miss out on this party.
The Town of Edinburgh was one of 30 rural organizations to receive funding to host arts and cultural events and programs connected to the 2024 solar eclipse, an event that will blanket parts of Indiana in total darkness on April 8. Awarded by the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, the $2,000 microgrant will help Edinburgh create a collaborative community mural, as well as offer other activities surrounding the eclipse.
With the grant in hand, the Edinburgh community will be able to put on a memorable event for everyone during the momentous occasion.
“What we’re really hoping to do is make it a celebration for all who are joining us — whether that’s residents or visitors from out of town,” said SaraBeth Drybread, community development director for Edinburgh.
The solar eclipse on April 8 will cover a portion of North America, and the entire United States will experience it to some degree. But the path of totality — in which the sun will be completely covered by the moon — only passes over a narrow portion of the country, from Texas to Maine.
Johnson County falls directly along the path of totality. This is the first total solar eclipse to cross central Indiana since 1205, and the next won’t do so in Indiana until 2099.
The county’s unique position makes it a hotspot for skywatchers and eclipse chasers, and local officials are preparing. Downtown Franklin will host a three-day festival featuring live music, food trucks, a laser show and a hot air balloon race. Johnson County park is offering three days of yard games, DJ sets, food vendors and more.
Viewing parties are planned for Greenwood, Indy South Greenwood Airport and local churches.
Early on, Edinburgh leaders knew they wanted to be involved too, Drybread said.
“We all know there are about five counties receiving an influx of people, with hotels already filling up, so we want to give anyone who’s visiting a chance to come to downtown Edinburgh and celebrate with us,” she said.
Edinburgh’s event is themed “Total Eclipse of the Art.” Artisans will be set up downtown to display their creations. People can wonder at intricate 3-D drawings made from chalk. Live bands will provide the soundtrack for the day, and other performing groups are planned to take part.
“Everything we do is really going to have an artistic focus to it,” Drybread said.
One of the centerpiece features for the event was to have the community gather together to paint a mural on a downtown wall.
To fund supplies, town leaders looked to the IU Center for Rural Engagement. The center focuses on addressing challenges facing rural communities throughout Indiana, as well as offering opportunities for collaboration.
With funding support from the Simons Foundation as part of its In the Path of Totality initiative, the center has been providing staff support, resources and outreach for community activities surrounding the eclipse, including the micro-grant program.
More than 80 organizations in communities with a population under 50,000 applied for the $2,000 micro-grants to support the implementation of eclipse activities.
“Rural communities are implementing creative plans to connect residents and visitors as we all gather to witness this historic event,” said Kerry Thomson, executive director of the Center for Rural Engagement. “We look forward to collaborating with communities to bring these plans to fruition and strengthen local strategies that expand arts capacity.”
Winners were chosen from around the state, including the Art Sanctuary in Martinsville, the Blue River Community Foundation in Shelbyville and Main Street of Hope.
For Edinburgh, receiving the grant helps pave the way for the mural project and other activities related to the eclipse party.
“It’s huge. We have our partners who help us out on different town events, but this is something that is so new and so different that trying to find funding was a challenge,” Drybread said. “We planning on a new sponsorship campaign, but knowing we have this seed money to get our community mural project off the ground, we’re very fortunate.”
