One, two, three, four.

Get my shoes then out the door.

Five I'm alive, six, seven, eight feelin' great.

Nine, gonna shine, life is good I'm doing fine.

Ten, Gonna do it right then do it again.

Yeah yeah.

I look up to the sky with all the beautiful color but, there's more than just for me so gonna share it with another.

I got to show, to give, let out, I want to sing and shout.

Take a look and see A beautiful morning that turns into beautiful evening.

And together make a beautiful life.

And if you want see, then come along with me.

That's right.

Welcome to another week here on Experience Michiana.

You might see a background you recognize behind us.

The Potawatomi Zoo is open.

We're going to talk about that next week.

But here on today's show we have some great stuff for you.

If you've never been to firearms, you want to be sure you head to downtown South Bend.

They are having their eighth annual juried show.

It's very whimsical in nature.

I think you're really going to love what they have to offer.

We'll look at the mind, body and Spirit Festival.

This is a really cool event.

It's an annual event that's been happening and you are going to be able to be one with yourself.

Lots of great speakers, music, a labyrinth.

We have all those details coming up for you.

But first up, we're going to be talking about the blue Gate Performing Arts Center.

That was my first time ever being there.

And I have to tell you, it is just incredible and they have an amazing space.

Let's look at it Well, we are right in the heart of Amish country here in Shipshewana and I'm so excited to be here at the Blue Gate Performing Arts Center.

I've never been in this place before.

Welcome.

Thank you so much.

And I mean, first, when you walk in, you are overwhelmed with all of the cool memorabilia this year.

Is this not cool?

It is amazing.

Yeah.

this and the crazy thing is that everything you see here, these are artists that have actually been in this building and performed here.

And it's just a it's a walk down memory lane.

You know, a lot of theaters, they they work hard to tell the story of what they are and where they've come from.

And that's really what we've tried to do here is tell the story of where the Blue Gate's been.

And, been a lot, a lot of places and been around for a while.

Yeah, almost 20 years.

Yeah.

So Riegsecker as a business, they started at Uptown as just a small store and expand into the restaurant.

And then they started doing entertainment in the mid 90s, and then here at the, at the Event Center in about 2006.

That's awesome.

And this is a brand new building.

I mean, relatively speaking.

Yeah.

These are only a few years old.

How has that process been?

It was amazing.

you know, building up to this point and then right around 2020, right around Covid, we did two performances in the new venue, and then we had to shut down Covid.

So it wasn't the greatest, timing for us.

But coming out of Covid, the response has been fantastic.

everybody that comes in the venue just raves about the the sound, about the seating.

And it's just it's a great place to go see a concert.

So before how many could you see and how many are you seating now?

Great question.

So when we first opened, our very first theater had 300 seats.

And so when we tried to do some bigger, bigger concerts, we didn't have enough space.

So we moved down to the event center, the flat floor here we got up to about a thousand people.

That was the max we could set, but it was flat and it was flat.

The guy in the back exactly sings so well on the front, right?

So when Ryan and Phil decided to go ahead and expand and do the new theater, they wanted to make sure that it had a little bit more seating and good seating.

And so we can now seat up to 1500 people.

And every seat has a great view.

Yeah, you get a good spot no matter what.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

That's incredible.

And I mean, everything here has a story like you were saying.

What are some of your favorite stories?

You've been here a while.

Yeah.

I mean, seeing it come all the way through from our very, one of our very first concerts with Mark Lowry and Tony Campolo all the way through, like just last week.

And we had Celtic Woman here, and we've got Gladys Knight coming in next week, and just some of the names are just fantastic.

Some of my favorites are, you know, I grew up listening to Michael W. Smith.

last year we got one of the big Christmas names, Mannheim Steamroller.

That was a huge wow for us.

I wasn't sure we could fit him on the stage, but it went great.

It was a fantastic show.

Is really thrilled to have him here.

How are the artists receiving the space?

They love it.

You know, a lot of the times that's one of the best comments we get back is the artists feel like our hospitality is really what brings them back.

The second time, the food, we feed them well here, this is Amish country, so we feed them really well.

And the hospitality our staff goes over and above to try to make sure that they feel welcome in, you know, not just that for the artists, but for those who come here.

Yeah, it is really an experience to come down to ship.

Shipshewana Absolutely.

When you come to Shipshewana, it's never just for a concert.

You're coming for the full experience.

So, we encourage people to come have a bite to eat at the Blue Gate.

And if you got time, go ahead and stay, stay, stay the night in the hotel.

You're going to enjoy that.

It's right next door so you don't have to drive.

Just go to the concert and then walk back to your hotel.

You guys have ample parking too?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

And it's all free.

You don't have to go pay for it in downtown Chicago.

Yeah, absolutely.

You and other concert venues, it is a bonus that you don't have to pay for parking.

Absolutely.

Everything is pretty reasonably priced here too.

Yes.

Tickets, people, no ships you want to for value.

And that's really what we provide them.

You can do a concert, a meal in a hotel for way, way more value than you can do it almost anywhere else in the.

Yeah, especially some of the big cities that are nearby.

That's fantastic.

Talk about some of the memorabilia here.

There's a lot of guitars.

Yeah, which I love.

And they've been played here as well.

They've all been signed by the actual artists that performed here.

And like our owner Ryan loves this sort of stuff and he comes up with really unique ideas.

And so what we like, some of these have actual like lyrics on them.

And then we have actually there's a really talented local high school artist that he had do some hand drawings and then the artist signs them.

So those are really unique.

And then we in the marketing department, we'll do lyric posters that they'll sign.

And, obviously we get the standard, photos of the artist as well.

And there's lots of sold out tickets, too.

We love putting those on the wall.

So whenever we have a good sold out show, we'll we'll do a big sold out ticket and have the artists.

I love it.

Yeah.

And you guys have some sold out shows already coming up for this year.

It's a big year for you guys.

Lots of great stuff.

You wanna talk about that?

Absolutely.

We'll have over 20 sold out shows already this year.

So we went okay, now let's go back.

How many shows do you have this year?

So in this venue we'll do about 150 shows.

The big shows.

Yeah it is amazing.

And then overall with the small theater uptown, we'll do over 450 shows and events this year.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

See you're working around the clock.

Absolutely.

Well, the main thing is when you come to ship show, there's always something to do.

I love you can plan ahead and find out what there is to do, but there's always going to be something for when you want to come have a good time.

And and even weekdays too.

It's not just on the weekend.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Musicals, tributes and of course you can do the famous, famous, flea market in town, do the great shopping.

It's a lot of fun.

And you guys have more than just musical artists?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Comedians.

If you like to laugh, we've got some great comedians, Henry Cho, John Crist, and of course, we've had some huge names that will get back, you know, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and some fun family type stuff.

we were talking about Mutts Gone Nuts earlier.

Yes, we're on AGT America's Got Talent before.

Absolutely.

And a lot of we've got some other, great families type stuff comes up right around Christmas time.

When you're home for Christmas break.

We'll have a lot more family stuff around then, too.

Awesome.

Now I know we're airing on Thursday night, so yes, Gladys Knight is happening right now.

So if you're not already at this concert, you're here with us right now.

Yeah.

What are some of the other big names coming in this year?

Well, Gladys is a huge one for us.

She's like one of those, hallmark names that if you've had Gladys, you've had legend, right?

Yeah.

we've also had Willie Nelson, we've had Kenny Rogers, Kenny G, Loretta Lynn, the Oak Ridge boys are doing their farewell tour this year.

They're doing two shows here, so we've been honored by it to have some truly incredible names here on the Blue Gate stage.

And I have to say, you know, there's a draw for artists like that to come here.

Absolutely.

Yeah, they love it.

We, again, they just like to have a good time.

And that's really how we find we get the bigger artists is we have one, they have a good time and they tell their friends down, down in Nashville.

And that's what we're going to do.

We're going to be telling our friends, awesome, all about this space too, how can people get tickets?

Where do they get the line up?

Yeah, super easy Google or just go to Blue Gate, the Blue Gate ecom blue gate dot the blue gate.com.

Super easy.

And there's so much to see in here.

I mean, you could also spend, How soon do you open before we start seating?

Because there's plenty things to see and do.

Absolutely.

Doors open an hour before the show time, so you kind of want lots of time.

And we encourage people to walk around and take it.

Take a look.

lots of fun things to see.

That's amazing.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you.

A little bit of what you guys have to offer.

And we're going to get you back for a concert.

Yes.

All right.

Good.

I love it.

Although, you know, Donny Osmond already sold out.

Oh, sorry about that.

Yeah.

Oh, man Arts is such an important part of every community, and today we're at fire Art with Julie.

To find out more about the eighth annual Juried Show.

And it's called Flights of Fancy.

Yes, artwork from a whimsical perspective.

Now, why did you decide to do something very whimsical?

This year?

Well, with all the sadness going around around the area, not the area, but just in general in general, you know, I thought, hey, well, why don't we bring back our, our, our whimsy show?

It was popular, a few years back.

We had a whimsy theme for our competition.

So I thought, well, do bring it back again.

And, and, so we did have, quite a few entries this year.

I was just about to ask you, what was the response to that?

Okay, we're going to do a whimsical year.

Yeah.

Let's have fun.

Yeah, let's have fun.

And so how did the artists respond with that?

They were happy.

They were happy.

Yeah, they were, they were, we had a lot of excited people, about, doing this.

That's wonderful.

So how many artists actually are participating in this?

there are 19 artists and there are 31 pieces.

Okay, now, all of these artists are all local, and in the Michiana area, they're in the Michiana area.

There's some from, South Bend.

Michigan.

some from, Goshen area, Elkhart.

Wonderful.

Now, how have these artists been a part of Fire Arts and some of the other shows that you have here?

there are some artists who are members of Fire Arts, but a good number of the artists are, people from the community.

They're not members, but they're, you know, participating because it was open to anyone.

Oh, wonderful.

No age range at all either.

well, 18 and, 18 and up.

Okay, 18 and up.

So tell us a little bit about some of the works that we see here, because, I mean, there's so many that have caught my eye and they're so fun and they really bring a smile to your face.

this one, the minute I came in, it was kind of.

It's one of those kind of fairy tale pieces.

Yeah.

So this is done by a local artist, Rhonda Whitley, and she does a lot of these whimsical, creatures, characters.

Fairy fairy like, people.

And, they're made with, cernit which is a resin based clay.

And this is all clay.

It's it's kind of a mixed media, but most of the the parts, like the, the head feet, okay, you know, like the fish and all that that's made of clay.

And then she, she told me this is paper maché.

Oh my goodness.

Looks like, Wow.

It looks like a trunk.

It does?

Yes.

He's sitting on a tree trunk there.

Yeah.

She makes a lot of whimsical things.

Very cute.

Now I'm looking at how different they all are.

So we're going from this to the chickens?

Yes.

We have chickens.

These are, these were made by one of our artists here at Fire Arts.

Bo Blinky.

And and he, chickens are his passion.

And he has pet chickens.

So, he's done a lot with that sort of theme.

That's great.

Now, all of this is going to be displayed, but there are going to be some winners announced.

Yes.

opening day, April 13th, this coming Saturday from 3 to 5 is our our opening reception at 3:00 will be awarding first place second and third.

Okay.

Now, how is the judging done?

How do you choose?

Well, well, that's up to the juror.

You know, we tried to pick I tried to pick someone to jury the show who has a whimsical sense of humor.

And our juror was David Blodgett.

And he's known for, a lot of the mural work done in South Bend and, his wife was a sculptor as well.

Wonderful.

So how long will this be displayed at Fire Arts?

This will be on display through May 31st and second Saturday in May.

We'll have, reception where the People's Choice Award will be, awarded.

So starting, well, starting now, or any time anyone can come in between now and, the first week or so of May, you can come in and vote for what you think is your favorite piece, and then we'll award the People's Choice Award.

Then on the the 11th of May.

And fire artists have been doing this for many years.

Yeah.

Except during the pandemic.

I think everybody took a pause during the pandemic.

Yeah, I had a great I had a great title for that one.

It was going to be what's your 2020 vision?

Oh, God.

And it's like the vision everyone's at home.

That was the vision that year.

Yeah.

So so how many years have you been doing this?

Oh my gosh.

several years.

I think the first time might have been 2014.

Nice.

We try to do it every year.

Great, great.

So we're going on ten years now.

Yeah.

Well we had like a 2 year break or so.

So eight years.

There we go.

Yeah okay.

Yeah.

Math isn't my high point here.

No.

Me neither.

Me neither.

Thank you so much Julie.

And again the the show is called Flights of Fancy.

And you can get more information on our website experience michiana.org.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for stopping by.

We have a special treat for you today.

This is an incredible festival that's only been around for a couple of years.

And we're here at Potawatomi Park in South Bend.

And I have with us Jamila, you are the founder of this event, the Mind Body Spirit Festival.

What a fantastic thing that you guys have offered?

Oh my goodness, we are so excited.

It's been really amazing the reception that the community has brought with this type of event.

It is the first of its kind within our community.

Absolutely.

And so excited that so many people are just wanting to show it for themselves, for wellness, to be able to just elevate themselves in a way that maybe they have not experienced before.

You know, we are all just going through so much stress and we're just being bamboozaled all day long, and to have a place that we can come and sit and be and just be with like minded people, I love that.

Yeah.

And be able to really collaborate.

And this is really a co-creative process.

We ask our the people that come, what would you like to offer?

And it's just been really amazing, the ideas and the things that people want to bring.

And we're still putting it all together.

Okay, that's yet to come.

So when is the event happening?

The event is May 4th from 11 until 5 p.m. now that's may the forth be with you.

May the 4th be with you.

Oh my goodness, yes I am.

I am truly looking for some Star Wars people to show think and be able to do some sort of flash mob.

Have not found them yet, however very much looking for them.

So I want to ask you a couple of things.

One of them is just, you know what?

All is going to be out here at the festival grounds, but more importantly, who should be coming to this festival?

This festival is for everyone.

It is an all ages event.

We'll have some face painting and we're going to have some games.

We're going to have a music circle with a maypole in between.

I love that if you've never seen a maypole before.

Yes.

I mean it's it's just incredible.

It really is.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

It's that halfway point between spring and summer.

And so it's definitely a time to be able to celebrate, which is why we chose this weekend.

And it's also World Labyrinth Day.

So we're going to have a labyrinth, a walk in labyrinth, which is really amazing to be able to walk.

So it's going to be, right up here on the hill.

Okay.

And we're going to have some music that will go with it.

And we are just going to be able to tap into that global energy of being one at one.

So it's something that happens around the world.

So that happening at 1:00, it is happening at 1:00 to know.

Yes, that will definitely be happening at 1:00.

And then we're also going to have music on the main stage.

We have a variety of musicians, something that's going to appeal for everyone, which is going to be really lovely as well.

We're going to have artisans.

And one of the things that, the is the requirement of the festival is that everything that you bring is handmade.

So, so we want true artisans to be here, and that's who is showing up in the past.

And you guys have continued to grow year after year.

How many are you expecting as far as vendors this year?

So that has not closed yet.

A lot of people do things last minute, but I will say that the last two years, the very first year we had 75 vendors, last year we had over 100 vendors.

That's amazing for a two years, by the way.

Really a feel is I'm so excited about that.

And so we have yet to say we have yet to see.

So lots of opportunity to visit with people that are like minded, with the mind, body and spirit.

Why are those three such a main focus?

What do we get from that?

That is such a lovely question.

I feel you coming through with this.

Yes.

I'm telling you, it is the thing that's most important for us in our livelihood to live a balanced, well-rounded lifestyle where we can be our most authentic self.

And whatever you choose to believe we are, we are open to everyone.

Whatever your choices, it's your choice.

And to be able to show up in a way that's unique and meaningful to you.

You know, it's really those pieces of ourselves that come together to be able to show up.

And when we can do that, we can be the best version of ourselves.

And by being the best version of ourselves, we help elevate their community.

Absolutely.

And that's a big part of this is the community, too.

And you are going to have some speakers out here as well.

We are.

We are again, those are two of you to determine, okay.

So we're still locking those in.

I will say that Professor Lad, who is from Indiana University, is going to be speaking about the labyrinth at noon.

Okay.

So I can.

Yep.

I can say that, yeah.

So he will be a speaker.

We will also have some speakers around wellness and being able to get into your body.

we were going to have some events, like a lot of people don't really know how to do things.

Exactly where to start, even, right?

It's so important because what we consume is really what makes up our body physically.

And so it's so important to have an understanding of what wellness and getting into our body is.

Now you're the founder of Conscious Michiana, which is putting this on.

Tell us a little bit about what Conscious Michiana is all about.

We are your we are your resource for all things mind, body, spirit related in the community, which includes arts, holistic living, sustainability, connecting to nature, community.

All of those things are what we are about.

And so we are here to promote and be a resource within the body.

So our we originally started as a directory website and we still are.

That however has grown and evolved along the way since the beginning.

And so we started as a resource to the community.

So if you are a practitioner, you don't have your website up, or even if you do, you can have your bio listed, you can have your hours of operation listed.

You can have all of your information about you.

So people can say, who does massage?

Who does my list, who does acupuncture, who does acupressure, who is in the area that does these things?

I love it, and I always have people asking me those kinds of questions too.

So now I know this is a great resource.

It really is.

It really is.

So whether you're a practitioner or if you're a brick and mortar, so locations such as if you're a retreat center like Sacred Waters or if you're a yoga studio like Beyond Zen up here in Granger or Awakening Realm over in Elkhart, or the Union down in Plymouth.

So those brick and mortar locations get to have a presence as well.

So who do you go?

What places can you go to that does the things?

And then there's the events so they can post the events there too.

So if you're looking for various events that are holistic, mind, body, spirit related in the community within the Michiana region that large.

Yeah, we kind up you know, we it's like a 45 mile radius.

Michiana is like kind of hard to explain as a region.

I know we're experiencing Michiana We are Experience Michiana.

So you know, this whole entire region.

So it really brings in all of these things that help people understand.

If you're going through some stuff, let's say that you've just gone through some pulling up some old trauma things and you're just wanting to find other choices for yourself.

Yeah, you can say, oh, what day of the week is it?

Oh, I've got Wednesday free.

What's going on in the community that I can find.

And you may be able to find some qigong.

You might be able to find some, shorten you might be able to find some ecstatic dance.

You may be able to find some lots of different things that are happening within the community.

So you can say, I don't necessarily want to go out, you know, sit down at that bar all day, right?

It gives you healthy alternative.

Nothing wrong with go and having a cocktail.

Every once and awhile, you know what I'm saying?

But if you're wanting something different, if you're wanting to make that shift, I love that we different choices.

I love that we have something like this in our community.

It's so fantastic.

People can come out to the event itself.

A lot of those people that you're talking about are going to be here.

Community, like minded people.

How can we get more information?

What's the best way to get.

Yep.

So on our website Conscious michiana.com we will have the festival page.

So it's right there.

Is it free?

Yes, it is a free event.

Love free event.

Yes, as a free event.

So make sure that you get your that you click for your it's a free event and you can get your ticket online okay.

And the purpose of getting the ticket is so that you can be entered to win.

We're going to have drawings all day.

So the drawings are, you know, vendors are contributing to the things that are going to be in the drawings hourly.

So there's going to be lots of good stuff that's going to be up there.

And fantastic.

All right.

Well we will see you on May the 4th.

Yeah.

Here at the mind Body Spirit Festival happening right in Potawatomi Park.

We'll see you then.

Take care y'all.

Okay.

I may not be ready with my mind, body and spirit, but you can be.

I hope you get a chance to check it out.

And we're going to take a look at what's new at the Potawatomi Zoo coming up next week.

See you then.

Hey guys, there is so much to do in the Michiana area and we just wanted to share a few more things that we stumbled upon that you might like to get out and do this weekend.

We could only feature so much in the show, but there is always even more to do in the Michiana area.

For instance, if you want to head over to the big Red barn at Saint Patrick's County Park, there is a rummage sale going on there this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. also to celebrate Earth Day.

there's a volunteer day going, on to clean up the garden at Defreis Gardens, which is part of the Elkhart County Park.

So it's a chance to go help make it a little bit more beautiful and ready for the spring, but also learn some stuff if you want to learn some things while you're helping out.

But there's also, a plant adoption thing happening at treasureology over in Granger.

It's all weekend, and from what I understand, there are, plants from 4 to $30 that you can go in and purchase.

Kind of a way to celebrate Earth Day as well.

There's also a hike in through Miller's Woods.

It's part of the Indiana Dunes, National Park.

You could go, be a part of that and find out about the rare black oak savanna and beautiful wetlands.

There is so much going on.

There's even more Shipshewana.

On the road is at the Saint George County 4H fairgrounds.

New Paris is happening their opening night, coming up this Saturday.

And there's also a chance to meet, Mona at Smiley in Mishawaka.

What's going on?

Be sure to get out and experience things.

And as you do, let us know about it.

We'd love to share the things that you come across in the Michiana area with the rest of our audience.

Have a great time this weekend and get out and experience Michiana.

Experience Michiana is made possible in part by the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the state of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.