It's not often that a major metropolis turns three blocks of its epicenter into a walking mall and street fair, but it's also not often that Indianapolis hosts the Super Bowl.

On Friday, Super Bowl Village opened on a three-block span of Georgia Street in Indianapolis.

John Dedman, vice president of communications for the Indiana Sports Corp., said that his organization's aim in constructing the village was to "create the most fan-friendly Super Bowl that has ever occurred." The Super Bowl takes place Feb. 5.

"(Super Bowl Village) is an area that allows people who have Super Bowl tickets or who don't have Super Bowl tickets to share in the excitement of the event," he says.

There are myriad elements to the village, including free daily entertainment, some of it with a national profile, on two stages.

Dierks Bentley performs there today; Fuel on Tuesday, Big Head Todd and the Monsters (see story Page 6D) on Wednesday; Darius Rucker and Sixpence None the Richer on Thursday; LMFAO and Morris Day & the Time on Friday; and O.A.R. and Umphrey's McGee on Saturday.

There is a temporary nightclub called the Huddle housed in the first floor of a former Nordstrom's department store, Dedman says, and Tailgate Town and Touchdown Alley are areas of the village where visitors can engage in some football-related activities.

A 100-foot-high, 800-foot-long zipline that can accommodate four riders at a time will soar above Capitol Avenue toward Lucas Oil Stadium, Dedman says.

Most of the events and pastimes in Super Bowl Village are free, Dedman says, but the zipline is $10 a person.

Food and beverage options abound in the village and, as may not be widely known in the rest of the country or the rest of the state, there is actually no law in place in Indianapolis forbidding drinking alcohol in public as long as the imbiber is 21 or older.

Dedman says ESPN has set up its broadcast studio in the village and plans to offer "110 hours of live programming" from that base of operations, and the NBC's "Today" show will broadcast from the village starting Friday.

Super Bowl Village isn't the only stretch of the state capital where extraordinary things will be happening in the next week.

Jimmy Fallon will be hosting his late-night talk show live from Hilbert Circle Theatre at 45 Monument Circle Wednesday through Friday, and Feb. 5, Dedman says.

Dedman says it is the first time Fallon has hosted his show from a remote location. Tickets can be reserved at www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/indytickets.

The Broad Ripple Village neighborhood of Indianapolis will host its own music festival called Broad Ripple Super Fest.

George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars, The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Robert Randolph & The Family Band and Candlebox will perform nightly starting Thursday. More information can be found at www.broadripplesuperfest.com.

Snoop Dogg, Mike Epps, Run DMC, Jane's Addiction, the Roots, Barenaked Ladies and 50 Cent will perform elsewhere in the city during the ramp-up to Super Bowl Sunday. For more information about these shows, visit www.indianapolissuperbowl.com and www.visitindy.com.

At the Indiana Convention Center, the National Football League will host something called the NFL Experience, sort of a football-besotted theme park with autograph sessions and youth football clinics.

Dedman says the best place to celebrity-watch may be the Super Bowl media center on the third floor of the JW Marriott Indianapolis. Jim Rome and Tim Brando are among the 5,000 sports broadcasters and writers who will be hunkered down there.

In Dallas last year, Dedman says the Super Bowl media center was a place where movie and TV celebs like Adam Sandler, Hugh Jackman and Jay Mohr touted their latest offerings.

Travel routes through, and parking options in, Indianapolis during the week leading up to the Super Bowl can be found at www.indianapolissuperbowl.com, Dedman says.

spen@jg.net