Bourbon Fest is held every September in Bardstown, and my biggest regret is that I only arranged to visit it one evening. We were invited to visit with friends, and I stupidly expected a cute little small festival. I was hugely mistaken.
There are a plethea of activites, from hot air balloons, to cooking classes, a gala, and artisan displays. The band this year was teh Kentucky Headhunters, which seems to be a trend among the recent years. I highly reccommend going to the website http://www.kybourbonfestival.com if you are considering going. I found this website after I got home, and had to laugh at my lack of planning. It is nice to note that prices are clearly listed on this website, to help prepare you to plan your trip. The activities pricing varies GREATLY, ranging from $5-140 per person. Also, if you are planning to visit the "spirit garden" you need the Kentucky Bourbon Fest lapel pin. I was lucky enough to have a friend purchase mine, so I am unsure of the cost.
We got to the Festival late Saturday evening, and took some time to walk by a lot of motorcyles and classic cars. There were some really nice vehicles, which the men of our group greatly enjoyed.
After that we broused the booths set up by local artists. There were tons of booths. I woudl estimate that there were well over 50. We (on a shorter time frame than I would have propbably planned for) look at some, but didn't have the opportunity to take time to appreciate them all.
My favorite booths were the booths of the Bourbon Distilleries. The fronts of these booths looked like the front of real buildings. It was not until I got inside that I realized these "stores" were really tents that had elaborate frontages.
The "Spirit Garden" was were I spent a bit of time. We went to spend time with friends, so our priority was catching up with the group who was with us. To purchase a drink, you must purchase drink tickets. Tickets are one dollar a piece, and drinks vary. 16 ounce beer cans were 4 tickets, and different bourbons were 4, 6 or 8 tickets. Note: there is a line for the ticket line, and a line for drinks. I would not reccommend buying tickets 4 at a time, however, plan well, because one of the people in our group was stuck with left over tickets at the end of the evening.
I'd reccommend going to the Kentucky Bourbon Fest to absolutely everyone. There is a wide variety of activites for everyone, including people with and without children, and for people of all ages.
See you next year!
From journal Got Bourbon? Kentucky Does