Ewing Cultural Center — Attraction in Bloomington

Biggest regret of our wedding day. We did our engagement photo session at Ewing and it went great so we decided to come back for our wedding day photos. We show up and they had failed to mention that a wedding was taking place right up until the time when we had booked the location for one hour for $250. While the wedding was over, the bridal party was still taking photos, there were 300 chairs in the back lawn making it impossible to get photos with the building in the background without also getting all of the chairs, and a huge event tent was set up in the inner courtyard making it impossible to take any photos in the courtyard. All in all, we couldn't use half of the property due to the set up for the wedding earlier that day and when this all was explained to the staff two days later, they said, "Most people just work around that stuff." Ugh. Waste of time and money on a day that you don't have time or...

Beautiful Japanese Garden. Lovely landscaping. Brought a friend from out of town and enjoyed a walk around the grounds. Whoever maintains them has done a fabulous job.

There was not enough time to stay for a play or even a green show, but some other occasion we can do that.

What a wonderful place. Just gorgeous. We spotted a Tiger Swallowtail in the flower gardens on the south walkway. Stunning. And the arch made of branches, closer to the theater, on the southeast side, made me want to start using ours for a similar purpose. So much for the eyes to take on here. Good for the soul to spend time here,...

I have always been a big fan of the Ewing Manor grounds. The major draw aside from the gorgeous green landscape is the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. These performances span from late June through mid August. Feel free to arrive a couple hours before a show (this year they will be performing King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing and have a picnic! This year, the concession stand is open and they have chips, nuts, soft drinks, water and beer/wine. Do yourself and any friends and family from out of town and bring them here for some serenity before you are entertained by professional actors speaking the words...