Summer Festival Fun!

Louisville is such a vibrant city, and summertime is when it really shines! Known not only for bourbon and horses, Louisville, Kentucky brings major music festivals, live acts, and national trade shows each year. Nothing says summer like blues music, craft beer, and good ole smoked meats - And June brings the "Blues, Brews, & BBQ Festival" at Louisville's Water Tower Park. July brings the massive "Forecastle Festival" taking place at Waterfront Park as well as the more intimate, Hunter S. Thompson-inspired "Gonzofest" hosted at the downtown Louisville library. Vintage car lovers travel from all over the country for the August "Street Rod Nationals" taking place at the Kentucky Expo Center. One of our most beloved annual events also takes place in August - The Kentucky State Fair. Innkeepers Missy & Carol are working on their entries in the culinary competitions taking place this year! Missy won 2nd place in the "Evan Williams Cooking Competition" last year with her "Hot Brown Hoe Cake" dish. She would love to take the blue ribbon this year and has narrowed it down to 4 possible dishes to enter. Wish her luck! 

We've included additional information about each summer festival below, including web links to purchase tickets or to learn more. We'd love to host you during your trip to Louisville. Check availability for our rooms during your dates of stay here.

FORECASTLE FESTIVAL

This three-day outdoor music, art and activism festival draws nearly 75,000 attendees to Louisville’s Waterfront Park. Held July 12-14, the festival features performances by The Killers, The Avett Brothers, Anderson Paak & The Free Nationals, Tyler Childers, Maggie Rogers and many more. The country's premier showcase of music, arts and activism. Forecastle is a 3 day celebration of sights, sounds and sustainability that takes place at Waterfront Park on the scenic Ohio River. "One of the coolest festivals in America" - Rolling Stone "Top 101 things to do in America" - SPIN Magazine "Top 15 outdoor summer festivals" - Outside Magazine. 

Website: https://forecastlefest.com/

GONZOFEST

GonzoFest Louisville is a literary and music festival honoring Hunter S. Thompson, as well as the lasting mark he has made on art, music, and literature. Through live music, poetry, art, spoken word and more, GonzoFest Louisville celebrates the life and times of Hunter S. Thompson in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. 2019 will mark the ninth year of the festival. We’re thrilled to announce that GonzoFest Louisville will once again be returning to the Louisville Free Public Library on Saturday, July 20, 2019!

Website: https://www.gonzofestlouisville.com/

KENTUCKY STATE FAIR

This annual summer tradition, underway Aug. 15-25, is packed with musical entertainment, midway rides, livestock shows and food tents galore. Enjoy performances by Montgomery Gentry, Sheila E, the Oak Ridge Boys, Vince Neil of Motley Crue and many more. Colossal cattle, trotting horses, handcrafted heirlooms, flashy games, novelty foods, and dizzying rides—these are the constants of the Kentucky State Fair. They are the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that the visitors to the Fair encountered in 1902 and they are still a major part of the fair experience today, more than one hundred years later. But the other constant thread documented throughout the history of the Fair is change. Kentucky State Fair history encompasses Kentucky’s growth and change in communication, transportation, technology and popular culture. Fair history reflects the challenges we have faced over the past century: to fight war and disease, to shift from rural toward increasingly more urban, to advance human rights and to grow more prosperous. The Fair has become the training ground, the testing site, and the public showcase for the Commonwealth’s progress. To borrow a promotional phrase used throughout the early decades of Fair history, the Fair is Kentucky Proud.

Website: https://kystatefair.org/

BLUES, BREWS & BBQ FESTIVAL

This long-running event has been heating up Louisville’s summer festival scene for years. At Louisville Water Tower Park on the river, enjoy barbecue, New Orleans and Memphis-style blues, craft brews and more on June 21 & 22. The Four Roses Bourbon Louisville Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival offers a wide assortment of mouthwatering barbecue stands, where “sultans of the smokers” boast of a “secret ingredient” that all guarantee makes their barbecue the best. And don’t forget about the brews tasting tent, back by popular demand, where you can cool off and sample the best of craft beers.

Website: http://www.louisvillebluesandbbqfestival.com/

STREET ROD NATIONALS

Over 10,000 street rods, customs, muscle cars and street machines will be on hand at the Kentucky Expo Center this summer as the National Street Rod Association® presents its 50th Annual Street Rod Nationals. The dates for the city’s largest vintage car show will be August 1-4, 2019. This will be the 25th time the NSRA Street Rod Nationals has been held in Louisville and an all time high number of participants and spectators are expected this year. Almost all of the Kentucky Expo Center will be utilized for the event as well as many of the buildings, which will house over 350 manufacturer and dealer displays and other attractions. The NSRA Street Rod Nationals is an excellent event for spectators to attend and those who take time to attend will be treated to the sights and sounds of some of the most beautiful, best constructed vintage vehicles ever assembled in one place. One of the special attractions for the spectators is that they can walk right up to the vehicles and check each one out close up as they are not roped-off or otherwise confined. All are in the open and can be examined top to bottom, front to back, inside and out. While the exquisite paint and other features of the car should not be touched, spectators are free to look to their heart’s content.

Website: https://www.nsra-usa.com/2019-events.html