The weekend is close, Lafayette.

Plenty to do Saturday, with no rain in the forecast finally. It’s the only day in the 5 day forecast without a chance. So, if you want to get out of the house, Saturday is your day.

Based on our poll from Tuesday, it looks like we have 42 people interested in a dating event. Next Tuesday, we’ll run a poll to see which age group wins out for the first event. Thanks for voting!

Here’s what’s in Friday’s edition:

Moving with cardboard boxes can be a pain. They collapse halfway up the stairs, tear at the corners, and then sit in your garage for six months after you've unpacked.

Lafayette Moving Totes rents sturdy, stackable plastic totes that they deliver to your door and pick up after you’ve moved. No tape, no late-night box runs to Lowes, no cardboard graveyard in the garage.

For Purdue students, Lafayette Moving Totes will drop totes at your apartment or dorm before move-out and haul them away once you're settled somewhere new. Realtors looking for a closing gift can hand their clients a tote rental that makes move-in dramatically less painful. And for locals moving across town, it means one trip to pack, one trip to unpack, and nothing left over.

Check them out

The Lafayette Farmers Market kicks off its 2026 season Saturday, and they're sweetening the deal. The first 100 customers who shop with any of the five participating vendors walk away with a free limited-edition 2026 market tote bag.

Beyond the freebie, opening day is worth showing up for on its own. It's another real sign that we've made it through the Indiana winter, and the vendors who've been prepping all spring are ready to share their goods with you.

When: Saturday, 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Where: 5th and Main Streets, Downtown Lafayette

Before it moved by railroads, Lafayette moved on water.

The Wabash and Erie Canal reached town in 1841. And by 1843, a canal boat could leave Lafayette and reach Lake Erie. When it was finally finished in 1853 (Tuesday’s Trivia Question), the canal stretched 468 miles from Toledo to Evansville, making it the longest ever built in North America.

Lafayette earned a nickname in part because of that: Star City of the West. Various people played a role in the life of the canal in the Lafayette area. Cyrus Ball collected the tolls, Henry Sample packed the pork, and canal workers nursed cracked heads at George Ten Eyck's Exchange (a saloon at the foot of Main Street).

The railroads arrived in 1852. After that, the canal limped along until 1875, when one last boat, the Goodman, pulled into Lafayette from Lodi.

Sources: Tippecanoe County Historical Association, Indiana Historical Bureau, Library of Congress (HAER IN-80), wabashanderiecanal.org, Canal Society of Indiana, Indiana Magazine of History

Downtown Lafayette will close to traffic on June 27 for the annual Summer on the Square, after the Board of Public Works and Safety approved the street closures Tuesday.

Main Street will be shut down between 2nd and 4th, along with portions of 3rd and 4th between Columbia and Ferry, to make room for vendors and foot traffic.

Nolan Willhite of the Downtown Lafayette Business Owners Association presented the request. He told the board the event currently has 62 vendors signed up, with a typical year drawing 65 to 70.

The board approved the closures without discussion.

Summer on the Square is one of downtown's larger single-day gatherings, filling the courthouse square and surrounding blocks with local makers, food, and music.

Murray State at Purdue

5/1 | 6 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Murray State at Purdue

5/2 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Murray State at Purdue

5/3 | 1 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Ball State at Purdue

5/5 | 6 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Purdue at Iowa

5/1 | 7 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Purdue at Iowa

5/2 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Purdue at Iowa

5/3 | 1 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Friday

54🌡️44 | 🌦️ | 20% | 💨8 mph

Saturday

54🌡️34 | 🌤️ | 0% | 💨3 mph

Sunday

63🌡️37 | ⛈️ | 10% | 💨12 mph

Monday

74🌡️49 | ⛈️ | 30% | 💨11 mph

Tuesday

64🌡️54 | ⛈️ | 50% | 💨8 mph

Reasons and Seasons Quilting and Crafts Grand Opening

2725 Old US 231 Suite A Lafayette | 10 am to 6 pm

West Lafayette’s 2nd Annual Tacos, Nachos, & Beerfest

Brokerage Brewing Company | 5 pm to 9 pm

Opening Reception: Time for Tea Poetics of Metal Exhibits

The Art Museum of Greater Lafayette | 6 pm to 7 pm

Spaghetti Talk LIVE (Get Tickets)

MatchBOX | 7 pm to 11 pm

Wine After Work

Wildcat Creek Winery | 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Lafayette Farmer’s Market

5th and Main Streets | 8 am to 12:30 pm

Vintage Yard Market

Golden Avenue | 10 am to 7 pm

Buzzing About Pollinators

Tippecanoe County Public Library Wea Prairie Branch | 3 pm to 5 pm

Indiana Makers Market Yard Market

LaLa Gallery | 10 am to 4 pm

Lafayette, IN Card Show

Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds | 10 am to 4 pm

Cinco De Mayo Dance Party w/ Clave Caribe (Get Tickets)

People’s Brewing Company & Taproom | 5 pm to 8 pm

It means a lot to me that you read this far, my friend.

Have a great weekend,

Blake | Publisher, Lafayette Lookout