The Indiana State Museum is turning its downtown Indianapolis campus into a giant hands-on laboratory this weekend, as Tinkerfest returns for its seventh year with more than 30 interactive stations spread across the building. The main event runs Saturday, September 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and organizers say it is built for tinkerers of every age, from toddlers stacking cups to adults tying fishing flies.
According to WISH-TV, all of Saturday's activities are included with regular museum admission, which runs $23 for adults, $21 for seniors and $17 for children. Museum spokesperson Carla Knapp told the station that Tinkerfest is about fun and hands-on activities for tinkerers and imaginers of all ages, and that the event makes learning fun while connecting skills kids pick up on the museum floor to future hobbies and careers.
The festival actually opens a day earlier than the public event. According to ACEC Indiana, Friday, September 18 is reserved for a dedicated three-hour session for K-8 school field trip groups, with admission set at $6 per student and free entry for teachers.
What's on the Tinkerfest Floor
The lineup mixes engineering, art and old-fashioned physical comedy. Per the WISH-TV report, visitors can try introductory robotics and coding, virtual welding demonstrations, 3D printing, straw rocket building, wood crafts, solar car races and virtual reality experiences, plus fly-fishing and fly-tying stations aimed at adult attendees. Kids can also steer Bee-Bots, small programmable robots directed with simple commands, according to the same report.
Two returning crowd favorites promise spectacle on top of the STEM lessons. Elijah the Cup Guy will build giant sculptures using stackable cups, while Team Fahrfunflinger comes back with its 18-foot slingshot for launching pumpkins, the station notes. The activities are designed to help children develop creativity, problem-solving skills and hands-on abilities while introducing them to STEM subjects, meaning science, technology, engineering and math, per the same account.
Community Exhibitors Fill the Museum's Three Floors
More than 30 exhibitor stations span all three floors of the museum complex this year, according to the Indiana State Museum, with participants including engineering association ACEC Indiana, agricultural firm Corteva, and the Carmel Christkindlmarkt, which is bringing a portable Kugelbahn wooden track to demonstrate physics and movement concepts. America's 250th birthday activities are also woven into the day, highlighting Hoosier ingenuity, the WISH-TV report states.
Those patriotic tie-ins connect to a broader statewide push. The America 250 activities align with semiquincentennial commemorations established under a March 2022 Indiana law meant to spotlight state history leading into July 2026, according to IN.gov. The Indiana Semiquincentennial Commission is also part of that effort.
Discounts Aim to Lower the Barrier for Families
Girl Scouts of Central Indiana members attending Saturday can attend at a 50% admission discount, according to Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.
Families enrolled in state assistance programs such as SNAP, WIC or Medicaid may be eligible for the statewide Access Pass program, per the Indiana State Museum. That program is a joint effort among major central Indiana cultural venues, including Conner Prairie and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
A Bigger Bet on Hands-On STEM
The event's hands-on focus is part of its appeal. State leaders launched the Power Up Indiana initiative in September 2025 to incentivize employers to invest in training.
The Indiana State Museum's current facility opened on May 22, 2002, according to the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. The museum's building is part of the visitor experience.
That museum sits inside White River State Park. Today, the Indiana State Museum system maintains a network that includes the Angel Mounds earthworks and the T.C. Steele State Historic Site.
