Things to Do in Sellersburg, Indiana This August

The town is only about ten thousand people, and for most of the summer it has been living around a single closed lane on Indiana Avenue. That lane is the through-line of this month. It shapes what time you leave for the pool at Mosley Park, which food truck line you join at Wilkerson Park, and whether you approach Sherrilli's Pizza from the north or the south. If you already live here, you have felt it. This post is about how the rest of August 2026 is likely to run given what's been announced, and what to plan around before Sellersburg Celebrates! rolls in on the third weekend.

The short version of the thesis: the US-31 rehab isn't just an inconvenience layered on top of a normal August. It has quietly become the organizing principle of the month, and the town's calendar has bent to accommodate it.

The stretch of Indiana Avenue that's rearranged everyone's August

The INDOT US-31 pavement replacement project covers the segment between Creek Road and Foothill Road. Work began on or after February 17, 2026, with E&B Paving as the contractor, and originally it was scheduled in three phases. It has since been combined into one larger project and is expected to wrap by Thanksgiving. The overall price tag is around $14.5 million.

The detour has been the same since day one. Southbound closures push traffic onto SR-160 and southbound I-65, then back to US-31. The intersection of US-31 and New Albany Street is operating as an all-way stop for the duration.

One piece of local context worth keeping in mind: US-31, which reads as Indiana Avenue inside town limits, is an INDOT roadway, not a Sellersburg or Clark County road. Pothole reports, timing concerns, and complaints about signage all go to INDOT at 1-855-INDOT4U, not to Town Hall.

For the school year, Silver Creek was banking on the US-31 and Ind. 403 intersection reopening by August 6 so buses could resume something close to normal patterns. If you saw crews working late that first week, that's why. More than 3,000 Silver Creek students returned to class in mid-August with at least one lane still closed nearby, and the district's transportation office spent months rewriting bus routes to keep the morning workable.

Where Wilkerson Park fits into a Wednesday

The last Wednesday of every month from April through September, the town hosts Food Truck Wednesdays at Wilkerson Park, right at the intersection of E. Utica and N. New Albany streets. Trucks open at 4 p.m. and serve until 8 p.m. In earlier months, DJ Blue Suede has played from 5 to 8.

The last one before school started fell on July 29. The next is Wednesday, August 26, and September 30 closes the season. The June 24 lineup gives a fair sense of what to expect:

• Bearded BBQ
• Patriot Pizza
• Donut NV
• The Scoop
• Bert's Quality Provisions
• Amiracle Ade
• That's My Dog

Wilkerson Park sits two blocks off Indiana Avenue, which is part of why the event still runs smoothly even with construction. Come in from New Albany Street rather than trying to cut across US-31, and you'll find a parking spot without joining the detour.

Sellersburg Celebrates! without the parade

The Sellersburg Celebrates! festival runs the third weekend of August. It is a three-day, volunteer-run event with carnival rides, live music, over 100 craft vendors, 30 food trucks, a car show, a 5k run/walk, a pageant, a baking contest, and the tethered balloon rides and glow that people plan their Saturday around. Attendance and parking are free. Carnival rides need a wristband or tickets.

Two things are different this year, both because of the construction on Indiana Avenue.

First, the parade has been canceled. Organizers cited construction and safety concerns, and they've said the rest of the festival will continue as planned. If your family's tradition was to stake out a curb spot with folding chairs, that piece of the weekend is not happening in 2026.

Second, the entrance and exit flow is different. The organizers have asked attendees to watch for updated signage and follow directions posted at the festival perimeter rather than defaulting to their usual approach. If you have gone every year for a decade, this is the year to actually read the signs.

The restaurants whose August depends on which side of the cones you're on

The construction footprint has done something unusual to the town's dining map. Places that used to feel equally easy to reach now sort into two groups: the ones you can get to without crossing the closed lane, and the ones where the approach matters. A local retail owner near the work told WDRB their sales are down about 20 percent from last year, which is a real number and a useful reminder that showing up matters this month.

Here is how the map looks in practice:

None of these places have moved. What has changed is which side street you use to reach them without sitting through a closure. If you have been ordering delivery more than usual this summer, the map above is worth an evening of experimentation. Most of these kitchens are within seven minutes of anywhere in town if you skip Indiana Avenue.

A working week, as it actually runs right now

For anyone trying to picture how the pieces fit together, here is a realistic Sellersburg week in late August 2026:

1. Monday morning. Silver Creek buses run their revised routes. If you drive kids to any of the three campuses, budget an extra ten minutes and use New Albany Street instead of Indiana Ave.
2. Wednesday, August 26. Food Truck Wednesday at Wilkerson Park, 4 to 8 p.m. Come from N. New Albany Street. Bring a chair.
3. Thursday. Long lines at the Chicken House thin out after 7. Coffee Crossing stays quiet through the afternoon.
4. Friday of the third weekend. Sellersburg Celebrates! opens. Approach the festival footprint per the posted signage, not your usual habit.
5. Saturday. Balloon glow at dusk. Car show earlier in the day. Craft vendors run all afternoon.
6. Sunday. Festival closes. Traffic on I-65 heavier than normal from mid-afternoon on.
7. Weeknights through the end of the month. INDOT crews may still be active in the southbound lane between Prather Street and CR 403. Plan errands accordingly.

The through-line

If you have lived in Sellersburg for years, you already know the town runs on a small handful of streets and a shared understanding of when to use which one. What August 2026 has done is compress that understanding into a single question at every intersection: does this errand cross Indiana Avenue or not? Answer that first, and the rest of the week falls into place. The trucks are still at Wilkerson. The festival is still on the third weekend. The Chicken House still sells out of biscuits. Only the approach has changed, and only until Thanksgiving.

If your own plans for the fall include buying or selling a home in Sellersburg or anywhere across Southern Indiana, Jessica Gooch is glad to talk through what the market actually looks like from inside these streets. Let's Connect.