Our Home: Manchester University

Midwest Banjo Camp 2025 takes place at Manchester University of North Manchester, Indiana. North Manchester is a small, charming college town in north-central Indiana, about 40 minutes west of Fort Wayne; it's about 2-3/4 hours south of Lansing, 3 hours southeast of Chicago. and 2 hours north of Indianapolis.

This will be our third year at MU, which is a truly great venue for a music camp. It is characterized by nice, well laid out facilities; the classrooms are super - spacious and well-appointed - and the concert hall is first rate. What's more, all our MU facilities - dorms, classrooms, dining hall, and concert facility - are within a very short walk of each other.

Travel to Camp

Air Travel

The nearest airport is Fort Wayne International (FWA), about a 45 minutes trip from MU. Other airports within range are Indianapolis International (IND), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Chicago Midway (MDW), and Detroit Metro Airport (DTW).

SHUTTLE SERVICE. The college operates a round trip shuttle to and from the Fort Wayne airport, that we can schedule according to faculty and registrant itineraries. Scroll down for more information on the shuttle (under "Local Transportation").

TAXIS, RENTAL CARS, UBER CARS. Scroll down to "Local Transportation."

Driving to Camp

Here is an address to put in a GPS or map program:

Manchester University: 1205 East St., North Manchester, IN 46962

**Note: Do not confuse M.U. with the University of Manchester, which is in the United Kingdom**

** Also Note: make sure you type in North Manchester. Plain old "Manchester, Indiana" is located about 200 miles away at the other end of the State, near Cincinnati**

Map

Here is a useful map of Manchester University; note that all facilities are listed alphabetically in the key at the bottom of the page.

Classrooms

All classes and the auditorium are air-conditioned. Here are the locations:

The Cunningham Academic Center
Chinworth Hall
Jo Young Switzer Center (cafeteria)
Cordier Auditorium

We have 3 residence halls at our disposal. All are also air-conditioned:

Garver Hall
Helman Hall
Oakwood Hall

WIFI

Good quality WIFI is available on the Manchester U. Campus; as of last year no special login information was required.

Parking

At Manchester U, you may park overnight at any of the lots shown in red or green on this MU parking map (do NOT park overnight in the one lot marked yellow). Note that all of the red parking lots are usually open all summer and are easily both visible and accessible for guests staying in the residence halls.

Important: Overnight parking on the street (between the hours of 1:00-6:00 AM) is NOT permitted, and the town police will ticket.

Climate

Early June weather in North Manchester, IN is normally pretty moderate with an average low of 57 and high of 76. That said, it can get quite warm and humid in northern Indiana at this time of year. Although all the buildings we will occupy at MU are air-conditioned, students will need to walk outdoors between buildings several times a day. To ensure that you're as comfortable as possible when you do venture outside, we highly recommend that you check the weather report at The Weather Channel / North Manchester, IN Weather, and select clothes that are appropriate for the projected conditions. Even if it’s going to be hot, we recommend that you bring a light sweater or sweatshirt to wear indoors in case the a/c is too high for you.

Downtown North Manchester

MU is surrounded by North Manchester, a lively town of c. 6000 inhabitants with a thriving downtown district. It features several restaurants with varied cuisine, coffee shops, a variety of shops and a bookstore.

Local Transportation

Airport Shuttle. The college operates a round trip shuttle to and from Fort Wayne airport, that we can schedule according to faculty and registrant itineraries. The shuttle operates for airport pickup on Thursday and - if there is demand - on Friday; it operates on Sunday afternoon for the return trip to FWA. There is a charge of $35 each way for the shuttle (sign up when you register for camp).

Rental cars are available at Fort Wayne Airport and other regional Airports. Prices have been fairly high of late so we recommend shopping around.

Taxis. Both Uber and Lyft service to and from Fort Wayne Airport. It's about a 35 mile ride one-way, and the last time we checked they quoted us a range of $45 - $65 each way. You will need an online app to call either Uber or Lyft from your smartphone. There may be other options at the airport.