Indy musicians to cover iconic artists during annual Tonic Ball fundraiser

INDIANAPOLIS — The time around the Thanksgiving holiday is a time for friends and family to get together and look back on what they are thankful for.

However for some, an Indianapolis live music tradition serves as the way they give back to the local community and help those in need.

On Nov. 21, the Friday before Thanksgiving, the Fountain Square neighborhood will be full of music lovers for Tonic Ball 2025, getting the chance to hear more than 70 local bands covering some of music’s most iconic artists – while fighting hunger in the community.

The yearly event will be at five Fountain Square venues on Nov. 21. Each venue will feature local artists and acts performing songs by specific artists, including:

• The B-52’s – Radio Radio
• Marvin Gaye – Square Cat Vinyl
• Green Day – Hi-Fi
• Britney Spears – White Rabbit Cabaret

The doors to these venues will open at 6:30 p.m., with music starting at 7 p.m. At around 9 p.m., the Fountain Square Theatre will open to general admission guests with artists performing “greatest hits.”

This comes after Indianapolis artists covered musicians including The White Stripes, Parliament-Funkadelic and Lady Gaga during last year’s fundraiser.

Tonic Ball 2025 will raise funds for Second Helpings, a nonprofit organization that has food rescue, hunger relief and culinary job training programs. The event’s website states that a ticket to Tonic Ball helps more than 100 Central Indiana nonprofits who receive more than 1,000,000 free meals from Second Helpings.

Second Helpings has been in Central Indiana since 1998. Its website states that it accepts donated perishable and overstocked food to prepare meals for thousands of individuals every day. The food is also distributed for free through local social service agencies in the Indianapolis area. The nonprofit also trains unemployed and underemployed adults for culinary careers.

“We’re a community kitchen. We don’t just collect food – we rescue food because we refuse to waste when others have none,” the website states. “We’re not just teaching people to cook – we’re providing an avenue for people to transform their own lives. Today, the need is so much greater than we ever imagined when we began – so we’ll go on undeterred.”

After individuals purchase tickets, they are able to pick up their wristbands the week before, or the day of the show. Tickets provide access to all the venues. For more information about this year’s Tonic Ball event and to purchase tickets, click here.