Our Birthday Tasting Party at Madison’s Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew Festival 2026

Tiny cup of Hungarian mushroom soup.

Hungarian mushroom soup, Anne’s favorite bite of the day, from Off Broadway Taproom.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: in addition to our annual road trips, my wife Anne and I have a twice-yearly tradition of spending our birthdays together, often traveling beyond Indianapolis to some new place or attraction as a short-term road trip -— partly as an excuse to spend time together on those most wondrous days, partly to explore areas we’ve never seen before. That’s every May for me and every October for her. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

Last weekend it was Anne’s turn. This year she wanted to see one of Indiana’s state parks that we hadn’t previously visited. In researching the area around the park that she’d chosen (which we’ll cover in its own separate photo gallery), I learned it’s next door to the city of Madison, which — as luck purely had it — would be holding a special occasion on the very weekend we’d be observing her special occasion: their 24th annual Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew Festival. The name is self-explanatory — dozens of vendors and organizations have tents up and down the length of quaint ol’ Main Street Madison and (mostly) offer one or more of the items proclaimed in the festival name.

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Small Towns, Small Festivals, Strange Finds

From time to time my wife and I take a momentary break from life on the grid and get away from the big city for a few hours. For those who feel like “roughing it” in today’s spoiled sense, Indiana has plenty of communities outside the reach of easy internet access or modern cultural saturation. Twice in the past month we spent a little quality time wandering through a pair of annual small-town festivals for a glimpse of life away from the ubiquitous confines of pop and geek cultures in which we’re normally submerged.

Mid-September brought us to Danville’s Fair on the Square, whose name tells all. Danville is large enough to have their own town square, and at least once yearly there’s a fair. Yep.

Danville Fair on the Square

Food! Rides! Toilets!