Third annual celebration of Haitian culture with live music by Akoustik, visual art by Lyndy Bazile and Johnson Simon, food, a community slide, a raffle and doula-certification awards.
Ayiti in the Heartland returns for its third year at the Indiana Landmarks Center on Sunday, November 1, from 5 to 8 PM. Presented by the Dieudonne Foundation, it's a celebration of Haitian culture built around food, live music, visual art and community.
The evening mixes a community-impact slide and a doula-certification graduation and awards with a raffle and a showcase of Haitian creativity. The music comes from Akoustik, co-led by singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer Elder Charlot, who blends Caribbean rhythm, Afrobeat, reggae and soul. Two artists show their work: painter and muralist Lyndy Bazile, whose work at Studio Vwazen centers historically marginalized communities, and Indianapolis artist Johnson Simon, a 2025 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities recipient whose expressionistic paintings convey movement, identity and joy.
There's a specific reason for the night. The celebration grew out of the Dieudonne Foundation's maternal-health work with families before, during and after birth, and net ticket proceeds go toward doula-training scholarships. Sponsorship sustains the event and the foundation's health work, with a campaign goal of $50,000. The graduation and awards ceremony on the program is a direct look at that work in action.
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Tickets are $49.99 per guest. Doors open at 4:30 PM at the Indiana Landmarks Center, 1201 Central Avenue, and the event runs from 5 to 8 PM.
