Walt Disney Imagineering and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis are bringing Tiana’s Joyful Celebration to life, an exhibit that will eventually travel to other museums across the country.

Tiana’s Joyful Celebration

In the exhibit, explore the art, food, dance, music, and spirit of New Orleans alongside Princess Tiana. Guests will use “special spice” to help her finish preparations for the Mardi Gras parade and create a joyful celebration.

Visitors will also help Princess Tiana host a parade in her childhood neighborhood:

• Decorate parade floats
• Visit Eudora’s dress shop and design parade costumes
• Cook up a pot of Tiana’s daddy’s gumbo
• Rehearse with the spasm band 
• Join Tiana for a special performance and magical moment courtesy of Mama Odie

“Tiana’s Joyful Celebration brings the heart and rhythm of New Orleans, along with Princess Tiana’s vibrant spirit, right here to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis,” said Jennifer Pace Robinson, president and CEO of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. We’re thrilled to welcome families into Tiana’s Joyful Celebration as you add your own special spice – creativity, joy, and teamwork – to Tiana’s Mardi Gras season parade. Our sincere appreciation to Walt Disney Imagineering for their support and letting our museum team’s creativity shine. It is sure to be a magical celebration of culture, imagination, and the power of coming together.” 

The shared vision of Walt Disney Imagineering and The Children’s Museum aims to celebrate culture and embrace creativity through uniting the storytelling of one of Disney’s beloved princesses and educational excellence to create an unforgettable family experience. 

“All of us at Walt Disney Imagineering are deeply honored to help share another new chapter of Princess Tiana’s legacy through the opening of Tiana’s Joyful Celebration Exhibition at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis,” said Carmen Smith, senior vice president, Walt Disney Imagineering/Disney Consumer Products. “Bringing this vision to life, especially after the opening of the Disney Parks attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, brings more of Princess Tiana’s inspirational story to the community, inside and outside of our parks. As a celebration of culture, the power of coming together, and the one and only Princess Tiana, this exhibit in collaboration with The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is a space where families and friends can share joy, learn from one another, and feel the heartbeat of New Orleans. We invite everyone to visit the exhibition in Indianapolis this year, or one of our partner museums as it travels the United States starting in 2027.”

This exhibit is recommended for ages 6–10. It will be open from March 7, 2026 through January 3, 2027 and is included in the price of admission. Tiana’s Joyful Celebration is a bilingual exhibit, with labels available in both English and Spanish. Costume characters are not part of the exhibit.

After wrapping at The Children’s Museum in 2027, Tiana’s Joyful Celebration will travel to 12 other museums nationwide, including The Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, The Fort Worth Museum of Science and Industry in Fort Worth, Texas, The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, The Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa, Florida, and others.

Exhibit Prep Work

The museum has been busy preparing for the exhibit, and they have been sharing some of the behind-the-scenes work taking place. The large dinosaurs outside the building are usually given some fun accessories for various events taking place in the city or exhibits featured in the museum.

For Tiana’s Joyful Celebration, the mother dinosaur has a Tiana ear headband on her head, and she wears a beaded necklace with Tiana’s tiara on the end. She stirs a pot of gumbo, and you can see how the museum designed and created this prop below:

The smaller dinosaurs each wear their own ear headbands and beaded necklaces. See the team put all these fun accessories on the dinosaurs below:

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