INDIANAPOLIS— On Tuesday morning, Monument Circle was shut down for a friendly race. Thirty-six downtown businesses were participating in the 7th annual Handlebar Hot Lap.
"Visit Indy is the defending champion coming in to this year," said Jeff Robinson with Visit Indy.
The event is about paying homage to the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indy 500.
"Really celebrating the month of May and celebrating the energy and spirit of downtown Indianapolis," said Taylor Schaffer, the president of Downtown Indy, Inc.
The proceeds will go to help beautify downtown Indy in the May with flowers and race decorations.
"This is the biggest party of the year for Indianapolis and having that excuse to showcase our city and definitely see you know flowers being planted and clean up being done-and more hands to pitch in because we want to show off what a cool place this is," said Jenny Boling, participating with her coworkers at Green Loop.
Making sure Indy looks good this Memorial Day weekend got even bigger with two Pacers playoff games on Saturday and Monday.
"These are the kind of weeks we live for at Visit Indy. You have all these things stacking up. The way its staggered is perfect so there’s something happening every day," said Jeff Robinson with Visit Indy.
Robinson says on this weekend they bring people in who may want to host events in the future.
"For planners what they want to see is a city where people will have fun, where there's always energy and they're going to see it all this weekend," said Robinson.
RELATED | Indianapolis could become 'the next big thing' thanks to 2024 events and tourism, Visit Indy hopes
