On Saturday, September 19, 2026, the grounds outside Riverview Health Arena at Innovation Mile in Noblesville turn into something Indiana has not quite seen before: a free, all-day outdoor music festival that doubles as a recruiting pitch for the skilled trades, followed by a ticketed arena concert once the sun goes down.
It is called TradeUp Fest, and it is being produced by the team behind the HamCo Live Hot Ticket podcast. Host Josh Cecil laid out the whole thing on a recent episode, and the details below come from that conversation and from the festival's own site.
Two events, one day, one ticket you do not need
The structure is the part worth understanding first, because it is unusual.
“This is not a card show,” Cecil said on the episode. “This is a music festival. It's actually a hybrid music festival, because here's how this works. This is two parts. We've got an outdoor festival experience, and then an indoor arena concert after that festival ends. That's why I call it a hybrid.”
The outdoor half runs 11 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m. on the pavilion and grass lots in front of the arena, across two mobile stages, and it costs nothing. The evening half moves inside the arena and requires a ticket.
Cecil thinks the pairing is new. “This is the first, as far as I know,” he said. “I am the first person ever to do anything like this.”
Who is playing
Inside the arena, country artist Larry Fleet headlines. He is joined by The Wilder Blue and Indiana singer-songwriter Nora Reese.
The free outdoor stages carry the regional and Indiana acts: Hank Ruff, Jai Baker Trio, Aiden Brown, Foosie & The All-American Ghetto Band, The Failers, Lost Anchor, and Distant Sound Waves. Cecil described sets running anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 or 50, trading back and forth between the two stages so there is always something playing.
The Trades Village is the actual point
The music is the draw. The Trades Village is the reason the event exists.
“What I really love is this Trades Village,” Cecil said. “I wanted to use this event, this concert, and music in general, just to promote the skilled trades. Skilled trades meaning your electricians, your welders, your plumbers, your advanced manufacturing.”
The festival is explicit that this is not a job fair. On the pavilion, attendees can try welding, electrical, HVAC and carpentry hands-on, watch working tradespeople demo their craft, walk through current tools and equipment, and talk directly to apprenticeship programs and education partners.
The numbers behind that pitch, per the festival's own materials: more than 700,000 skilled trades jobs currently sit unfilled in the United States, roughly 40% of the skilled workforce is expected to retire within the next decade, and about 16% of Gen Z is currently considering a trades career.
What it costs and how to get in
The outdoor festival is free and open to everyone, though the festival asks you to claim a free outdoor pass so they can plan. Arena tickets are sold separately, with general admission, VIP and Toolbelt Lounge options, and are available through the festival site and Ticketmaster. An arena ticket also gets you all-day access to the outdoor block party and the Trades Village.
Both are at tradeupfest.com.
Practical notes before you go
Bring a lawn chair. Do not bring a cooler, a point Cecil was emphatic about on the episode. Food trucks and local vendors run down the middle drive between the stages, there will be beer, wine and cocktails for adults, and the whole outdoor footprint is built to be family-friendly.
The venue is Noblesville's new arena at Innovation Mile, at 14157 CJ Way, just off I-69 near East 141st Street. It is the same building that brought the Pacers' G League team to Hamilton County.
How to get involved
Two open calls came out of the episode. The festival is building a volunteer street team, and it is assembling gift baskets of Indiana-made goods for the arena artists' green rooms.
“We want to put together some local cool stuff,” Cecil said. “Baskets for our artists to put in their green rooms. If you have ideas of local goods, products that we could put in this basket, just to say, hey, this is who we are. We're proud Hoosiers, and here's just a little taste of Indiana.”
Businesses can also apply for a spot in the Trades Village, and sponsorship tiers run from $2,500 community supporter up to a six-figure presenting partnership. All of it routes through the festival site.
For the full breakdown in Cecil's own words, including the origin story and the sponsor lineup, listen to the HamCo Live episode on TradeUp Fest.
