Introduction to Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, Indiana has a wide variety of activities and venues that make it an impressive place to live, work, and play. The city has gourmet chocolate, Broadway musicals, professional sports, unique shopping malls, tasty dining, and top-notch entertainment. The downtown area of Fort Wayne is known for its quality art venues, interactive museums, festivals, and dining. The area has many attractions, including a talking tree and the perfect steak. The city has a population of about 500,000 and is named after a military fort established in the area in 1794 by General 'Mad' Anthony Wayne.
Fort Wayne Culture
Fort Wayne has an eclectic mixture of cultural attractions to satisfy just about any resident or visitor. The Historic Embassy Theatre has national Broadway productions, music concerts, educational programs, and cinema. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art has a contemporary collection of traveling exhibitions, as well as 19th and 20th century art and classes for teenagers. The Fort Wayne Cinema Center showcases a variety of independent, foreign, classic, and documentary films. The Fort Wayne Philharmonic is an orchestra serving the entire Northwest Indiana region and performing regularly. Artlink is a visual art gallery with rotating exhibitions and drawings classes for adults and children. The Fort Wayne children's Choir is composed of 256 singers grades three through high school and performs four times per year.
Fort Wayne Sports and Leisure
Fort Wayne has a lot to offer in the way of sports. Professional sports in the city include Fort Wayne Fever Soccer, which provides is a semi-pro team playing from May to July. For football fans, there's Fort Wayne Freedom Indoor Football, the city's newest professional sport. Fort Wayne Komet Hockey is the longest continuously running sports franchise in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne Wizards Baseball delivers Class-A Midwest Baseball League action to area baseball fans. College sports are plentiful as well, with IPFW Mastedons hosting over 100 Division I athletic events every year. The McMillen Ice Arena offers hockey, figure skating, and recreational skating to adults and children in the Fort Wayne community. Golf lovers will enjoy the Eel River Golf Course which has 18 holes and a full service pro shop.
Fort Wayne Outdoors
There is plenty of outdoor beauty to be enjoyed in the Fort Wayne area, which has over 56 square miles of parks to choose from. Fox Island has hiking trails, picnic areas, swimming beaches, fishing, cross-country skiing, and bird watching. Headwaters Park holds festivals, concerts, weddings, and family reunions. Foster Park has a pathway for joggers and bikers and an 18-hole golf course. Lakeside Rose Garden is one of the largest rose gardens in the country, with almost 2,000 roses on display. McMillen Park is open year-round for ice skating and also has soccer and basketball areas.
Fort Wayne at Night
There's plenty to do in Fort Wayne when the sun goes down, from concerts to dancing to mechanical bull riding. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum holds major concerts, consumer shows, and family shows. The Embassy Theatre hosts over 40 different performances every year and draws over 200,000 patrons. For those interested in nightclubs, Fort Wayne has places like Club Soda that feature dancing, dining, and drinking. Pierre's is one of the most popular nightclubs in the city, and it has five bars, a rock stage, karaoke bar, and a mechanical bull for the adventurous.