Sausages by the thousands, a beer garden on Illinois Street, and a dunk tank for the kids are all part of the scene this weekend as St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Indianapolis's Butler-Tarkington neighborhood throws its 22nd annual SausageFest. The free festival runs from 5:30 p.m. to midnight both Friday and Saturday, drawing families, students, and neighbors for what organizers describe as a community-wide celebration built entirely around fellowship and food.
Chris Durnil, an organizer for SausageFest, told WISH-TV that the event's appeal goes well beyond the food itself. “We’re welcoming everybody,” Durnil said, adding that his favorite part of the festival is the fellowship and community it creates. He also offered a bold claim about the event's regional standing, saying, “we call it the best fest in the midwest.” The festival normally serves around 10,000 sausages over its two-day run, according to the same report.
St. Thomas Aquinas Church sits at 4600 N. Illinois Street in Midtown Indianapolis, just three blocks east of Butler University and a block from the Indiana Governor's Residence, according to Visit Indy. The parish itself dates back to 1938, when it was founded on the north side of Indianapolis; its original wooden church, built the following year for $15,000, was eventually replaced by the current church building in 1968, per the parish's own history.
Where the Sausages Come From
The festival's signature food comes from a genuine neighborhood institution. L.E. Kincaid & Sons Meat Market, which has operated on North Illinois Street since 1921, custom-crafts the sausages served at the festival, including a house specialty called the Saint Thomas Sausage, blended in-house using Andouille and Polish sausage seasonings, according to Kincaid's Meat Market. The butcher shop has been owned and run by the Dugdale family since 2015, a family whose roots in the local meat industry stretch back to 1975, the Towne Post Network reports.
Beyond the sausage itself, the festival's food lineup leans on other Midtown businesses. Byrne's Grilled Pizza supplies pizza slices and the Illinois Street Food Emporium contributes side dishes, according to reporting from the Indianapolis Business Journal. That same outlet notes that Indianapolis-based Sun King Brewery serves as the official craft beer provider, bringing a mobile taproom to the festival's adult beer garden — one of the attractions organizers point to alongside the wine and beer garden that anchors the grown-up side of the event.
Something for Every Age Group
SausageFest is built to accommodate multiple generations at once. The festival includes dedicated zones for young kids and teens, plus activities for all ages, according to WISH-TV. A children's area features inflatables, games, and a dunk tank, while a chaperoned back-lot party area gives teens their own space with a live DJ, according to Indy's Child. Organizers close off a section of 46th Street each year to make room for the youth activities.
Every dollar raised stays within the parish community. One hundred percent of SausageFest's proceeds go directly to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and School, funding building and grounds maintenance along with academic, extracurricular, and financial aid programs, according to the Indianapolis Recorder. WISH-TV reports the festival helps the church maintain its facilities, underscoring just how central this single weekend is to the parish's yearly budget.
A School With Deep Roots
The school benefiting from the festival has its own long history in the neighborhood. St. Thomas Aquinas School was established in 1941 under the direction of the Sisters of Providence and later earned recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence from the U.S. Department of Education in 2005. That legacy is part of why the annual fundraiser carries such weight for families connected to the pre-K through 8th-grade school.
SausageFest also fits into a much larger late-summer pattern across Central Indiana. Dozens of Catholic parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Indianapolis host weekend community festivals in August to fund their own church and school operations, according to The Criterion. St. Thomas Aquinas's version has carried on for more than two decades, and this weekend's edition gives Butler-Tarkington another chance to eat, drink, and support the parish and school at the center of the neighborhood.
