Mouthwatering Festivals in Louisville

Fête de Noël Winter Holiday Festival

★★★★☆ 3.8 (18)

"Fete de noel is a annual Christmas event series that takes place every year at paristown just off Broadway in Lousiville Kentucky. I was aware of this event that includes and outdoor Ice skating rink, small hits full of vendors and other Christmas activities a few years ago but did not make the trip until 2021. Me, my oldest daughter and two of her friends made the trip. The place is very lovely decorated. During 2021 they offered the traditional outdoor ice skating, and area to meet Santa, the shopping booths and a Scrooge themed escape room. The on site restaurant "the cafe" also had extended hours for guests who wanted to dine in. On our trip we did not get to Ice skate. While waiting on line they made an announcement that someone stole 30-50 pairs of ice skates earlier so they were sold out for the night. So instead we hit up the concession and I got a boozy hot chocolate with woodford reserve and got the teenage girls a normal hot chocolate. We then crowded the cute little store fronts that ranged from holiday decor to home made clothing to snacks to coffee shops. The girls all each bought a few Christmas items for gifts and I got them a few items they enjoyed such as some homemade dresses. So they really enjoyed that. The meet and greet Santa they wanted To charge just to meet the guy. Hard pass on that considering every other place in the city has this and it's free. Yes they charge you if you want to buy a photo but this place forces you to buy one basically by charging just to participate. No thanks. We did do the Scrooge escape room. You had to buy tickets online and the next available that could fit our party of 4 (only did parties of 5) was 90 min later. So we made good use of our time and browsed some more and went inside "the cafe" and got dinner. Timing worked out perfect. The escape room www very tiny and one room only. You had to figure out had to get the lights on. Rather simple puzzle and not much to view. But it was a cute and different experience. The kiddos enjoyed it. Pricing on it was like $8 a person. So not too terrible for a holiday themed experience. Overall, glad we finally checked this place out. Our experience wasn't the greatest. Pricing is high on most things and not being able to ice skate was a bummer. It was a really cool outdoor setup that had a massive projection screen playing Christmas favorites. If I'm being honest I'm not sure if I'll return anytime soon. The outdoor ice skating would be cool to try but outside of that there wasn't anything that made this a "must do" annual event for us."

Middletown Family Fun Fest

★★★★☆ 4 (1)

"Really enjoyed our visit back to the annual festival! It felt larger this year, from more vendors to local businesses. Parking is best on Old Main Street or in the lot next to the Dollar Tree on Shelbyville Rd. Feel free to go hungry. A church group cooks out and offers food at a reasonable price, especially when feeding families. Food trucks and booths are also available and some have a fair feeling to them (corn dogs, funnel cake). The festival begins Friday evening and runs all day Saturday. Several bands play during the schedule. It ends Saturday night with fireworks and in between is a parade, inflatables and a petting zoo.Mark your calendar for next year in September!"

Jeffersontown Gaslight Festival

★★★★☆ 4.4 (13)

"The gas light festival is always a fun experience for J town residence some people that are visiting. I worked in J town for a year and we participated in the Parade and It was a fun experience with all the vendors and the people and all the good fun rides and think they have it's a good festival that I will definitely be going to again this year hopefully if the pandemic is ever over"

Boomtown Ball & Festival

★★★★★ 4.5 (4)

"On my to-do list for next year: Go to the Boomtown Ball and Festival. And just as important: Get there early enough to enjoy the booths.I arrived at about 8 p.m. -- an hour before the headliner was set to take the stage. The sun was still out.But except for a handful of booths, everything else was already closed and torn down. And I had seen so many great shots on social media of makers and local shops that had set up at what is becoming a landmark fest for New Albany. I wish I could have made shopping a part of my Boomtown adventure.Some of the reasons the shopping hours should be extended:* Like I said, it was still sunny. No problems seeing the merch.* This event is only one day (so far). Asking vendors to stay open until the last concert shouldn't be too hard.* The in-between time, leading up to the last band, is a time when a large amount of guests are looking for a diversion -- a win for shopping.But Boomtown is definitely about more than shopping. And from what I saw, it excels in other areas:* The music was fantastic. From what I was told, local band Houndmouth and WFPK worked together to bring in the acts.* The final band was on time, which you don't see a lot.* Because this festival is still gaining steam, we were able to 1) find parking less than a block away and 2) get super close to the stage without having to push our way through a massive crowd.* This is such a great opportunity to explore beautiful downtown New Albany.* The police were so friendly!I'm looking forward to next year and spending all day in New Albany."

St. Joe's Picnic

★★★★☆ 4 (10)

"St. Joe's Picnic has been around for almost longer than seems possible. This year was its 166th picnic, and to put that into perspective, consider that Abraham Lincoln was 40 years old the year of the first St. Joe's Picnic -- 11 years from becoming president. Mark Twain was a teenager. St. Joe's Picnic is older than:* Old Louisville,* the Civil War,* the Kentucky Derby,* refrigeration, the telephone and light bulbs.That is damn impressive. It's a large festival to benefit the St. Joe's Children's Home, which started as an orphanage and is now a residential treatment program for abused and neglected children, a therapeutic foster care and adoption program and a child development center. The Picnic is definitely for a good cause.And the free festival includes tent after tent of cheap (i.e. 10¢ and 25¢) gambling games, bingo, beer and my favorite, the cake booth! You put a dime down on a number; the number gets called; you win a cake! It's brilliant! That's some gambling I can get in to. But I always find it entertaining that there is some decadence and depravity under the surface of St. Joe's Picnic. It's a family event, but as the night gets later, the beer definitely starts to kick in. You can spot the folks talking just a bit too loud or making out behind the booths. We had time to make this observation this year as we were spending 30 minutes or so in a food line -- only to order and then be sent to another line to wait for our food. Friends who opted for other treats found similar experiences at other booths. (Tip for next year: Eat before you go!) The beer lines were crazy fast and short, though, for better or worse. It was nice that friends who were not in line would run and grab us beer while we waited. Some other things to note if you haven't been yet. All the food and drink is sold via tickets at $1 per ticket. So if you are off in your estimations, you might overspend and go home with a pocketful of unused tickets. On the other hand, St. Joe's Picnic is on the affordable side for a festival. And parking might be a hassle. But to make the most of it, park a bit farther down on Frankfort Avenue, and use that time to duck into some shops along the way. So to summarize: Long history. Good cause. Cake! Beer! Tickets. Parking. Every Louisvillian should go to St. Joe's Picnic at least once. There are other festivals that I look forward to more, but it's such a fun part of Louisville's history that you can't miss it."

Wild Lights

★★★★★ 4.8 (10)

"This is a great adventure that the Louisville zoo offers during the month of April through May. My family and I went last Friday evening around 830 right when it was getting dark and it was great weather outside. The tickets were $20 per person or $60 for a family of four so we paid $60 in the four of us went. Park at the zoo you walk through there's great lights and structures and cool Asian music playing throughout the whole thing it takes you throughout the whole park. Has a lot of great photo opportunities has a lot of cool designs and interactive Grillo sound all sorts of neat things that my family and I really enjoyed. It was a unique experience That we were really happy that we participated in and decided to go. It was very crowded you do have to wear your mask through the adventure since Cove it is still going on. But definitely worth checking out it's a really good fun activity for the kids and for the adults to to see all the fun things I think it took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk the whole exhibit so it was a lot of fun"

Highlands Beer Festival

★★★★☆ 4.4 (7)

"I love the Highlands Beer Festival! In my opinion, beer festivals are always a great time, but this is one of my favorites. Compared to some, this one is actually quite small, as it's essentially held in a parking lot under one tent; but, it offers plenty of options! Throughout the years this festival has grown, so it's definitely continuously expanding, but it's all still in a smaller venue than some of the other festivals around town. Don't let that deter you though, this festival is just as good (and I would say better) than some others. I have attended and volunteered this festival, and I have always had a blast. There's plenty to drink, including local, domestic, and imported options. There are options other than beer too. You'll find ciders, seltzers, and more. So, if beer isn't your first choice, this can still be a great event to attend! If you haven't been to this event, and you enjoy beer festivals, I think you should definitely check it out!"

Madison Chautauqua Festival

★★★★★ 5 (3)

"One of my favorite fall festivals in one of my all-time favorite small cities. Madison, Indiana is such a charming and historic city that is so well preserved and still vibrant. Located on a beautiful stretch of the Ohio River bordering Kentucky, Madison has so much going for it.I love the Madison Regatta, but the fall arts and crafts festival, the Madison Chautauqua Festival, combines two of my favorite things, fall and shopping. It is a juried art show that also has crafts, food, and entertainment. I like to go to the juried show first and then head down to the food and music on the riverfront. We always stop in at Lanthier Winery (a block away), which has tastings, food, entertainment, and booths of their own. After that, we head back up to Main Street to hit the shops and visit the craft booths at the other end of town. It's a full day.The weather is often beautiful for this annual late September event and yesterday was no different. We got there early and found a parking spot on the street and headed to Hinkle's for a late breakfast. We also like to walk the streets if we have any extra time and look at the houses. I live in a historic home and Madison is a great place to walk about and check out and appreciate architecture of days gone by. The festival is one of the best in the area and I even prefer it to St. James, which I used to live by and still attend annually. The Chautauqua is just as big and nice, but the streets are wider and it's a lot easier to move about. Plus, there's so many shops and the festival at the winery that adds even more. It's never on the same weekend, so I always do both. Madison is a great town to visit and the Chautauqua is not to be missed."

Wine on the River

★★★★★ 4.5 (10)

"Wine on the River is such an awesome event! It's held at the Big Four Lawn and attendees are able to drink tons of different wines and spirits, as well as try food available for purchase from restaurants, like Bourbon Raw. Last year I was able to try tons of stuff I hadn't had before, which is always a fun experience. Proceeds from the event go to help the Boys and Girls Haven, so it's lots of fun for a great cause. The event also has vendors set up throughout, as well as live music entertainment. If you're looking for a fun late summer/fall event, Wine on the River is a great one! Even if you're not a huge fan of wine, they have plenty of other spirits on tap, so go check it out!"

Woodland Art Fair

★★★★☆ 4.1 (8)

"Disclaimer: the only reason that I can't give this annual event a five star rate is because of the parking. Parking is so scarce all around the park, that I always end up having to park two miles or more away. If someone knows of a better way to park or of a secret parking lot, please feel free to message me ;) this year there was free parking in the Herald Leader lot and there was a shuttle but the lot was full by the time that I got there around noon on Saturday. But I finally found a curb side spot by the Herald Leader. The art is fantastic. I always cringe when it rains because I think about all, or even some of the art being ruined. Rain doesn't stop the fair though. This was the first year that I took advantage of the local beers (I'm usually not a beer drinker). All of our local breweries were there, except one. Hopefully next year Blue Stallion will be there too. The food: there were so many food truck pop ups on site that I wanted to try several, but because of the long lines, I stuck to one. Hopefully all of those people who got their first taste of the food truck scene will love it as much as I do and will continue to support these awesome local businesses.And you thought this review was going to be all about art?!"

Cherokee Triangle Art Fair

★★★★☆ 3.9 (19)

"Don't get me wrong; I'm a fan of art shows. The St. James Court Art Show, for example? Love going every year.But I rarely buy anything at them. My checking account isn't big enough.The Cherokee Triangle Art Fair is different, though. Many of its vendors are affordable. Plus there is a variety of items -- without sacrificing quality. It's not the same paintings and modern art booth after booth after booth. Every year that I go I end up buying something -- or many somethings. And my checking account survives, far from depleted.I visited twice this weekend for the annual show and was so impressed with what I found.Jewelry, paintings and ceramics -- yes. But there also were clothes, Derby hats and fascinators, art prints, children's toys, garden art, plants, soaps and much more that I'm forgetting.So much of it is local to the region or at least to Kentucky. I'm always surprised at other large local art shows at how many of the vendors come from other states.And this show contains pieces and vendors with interesting artistic points of view. One of my favorite booths this year was PhBead, which makes jewelry out of butterfly wings. Sounds a bit odd, but these necklaces and bracelets were stunning. Plus she gets the wings from butterflies that have already died.And if art isn't your thing, wine and mimosas can be found by the Castleman statue, and food and live music is available by and in Willow Park, at the other end of Cherokee Parkway.You can spend an hour or two perusing the booths and then relax, with a lawn chair, in the park.The houses that line Cherokee Parkway are beautiful to look at.And traffic isn't too bad getting to the fair. Similarly parking is relatively easy. I live two blocks from the fair, and there were several spots free on our street for fair-goers.I would recommend parking across Bardstown Road on one of the side streets rather than on the other side of the fair, near the park, though.One more tip: Don't bring your dogs. This art fair is pet-free.Definitely make it a point to attend in the future!"

Crave Food And Music Festival

★★★★☆ 3.8 (24)

"We had a great time here! We came with a pretty large preset budget, and good thing because there was a lot to try, and at pretty pricey prices for the portions. There's a wide selection of food, and if you like tacos and pizza there's vendors upon vendors for you. We did get to try some pretty unique things, with Turkish coffee being at the top of this list. It was really neat seeing them warm it up in the hot sand. My husband said it was a really unique drink. We also got to try some pho, some Cajun food, barbecue, nachos, and more.The festival was well-run and well-organized. The app made it easy to track how many crave-bucks you had left. The parking situation was intuitive and ran smoothly, making it easy to get in and out. Great job to the organizers, I hope to come back next year!"

Christmas in the Park

★★★★★ 5 (2)

"Christmas in the park is an annual free and massive drive thru holiday light experience located in Elizabethtown Kentucky and held at freeman lake park. This completely free event has a entrance and a exit point. You line up for the entrance and drive slowly through the light show which features everything from classical holiday designs, characters and figures to pop culture decorations such as super hero's or popular tv characters. The closer you get to Christmas the longer the lines will be. Especially on a Friday or Saturday night. I take my family through here every few years as it's a decent haul from Lousiville. We try and go on an early December weekday night so it is t very crowded and then we go into town and find a place to dine (we always seem to end up at the cool wicked eye woman). Overall This a free, cool and large holiday lights display. Perfect to put anyone or any family in the holiday spirits. Great job by the folks of Elizabethtown and freeman lake park for hosting This event annually."

NuLu Fest

★★★★★ 4.6 (48)

"The first time I came was years ago and it was a completely different experience.It was mostly social. They didn't have as many vendors or food trucks and there wasn't much to see. This time, it was crazy! Lots more people and a lot of family-friendly activities. I ended up spending a few hours here!Lots of vendors and food options now! It's also more diverse and inclusive. Yay!The bands were a lot better this time and drew more of a crowd.Parking isn't hard to find at all! You can find free parallel with no issue here!I would totally return to this festival next year!"

Winter Illuminations

★★★★☆ 3.5 (4)

"My friends and I had so much fun here! This is a great pandemic-friendly Christmas activity. We parked in the south parking lot where there was a cute food truck selling boozy (and family friendly) drinks and some snacks! I got the Apple cider which was delicious and kept my hands warm as we walked. The path was a little dark and you may need your phone's flashlight at times. Each of the light displays have music as well which we loved! The tunnels also make great backdrops for cute photos. We walked around twice because we enjoyed it so much! The price may be a little high for a normal year, but we thought it was well worth it to safely get together for the holidays."

Lexington Comic & Toy Convention

★★★★☆ 4 (22)

"This was our first time attending the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention, and I can't say that I'm disappointed. We found out about this con when they were advertising themselves at Louisville's Supercon. I had a pretty fun time here. The thing is, is that it's all the same stuff I've seen before; I can only go through so many vendors of Funko Pops and stuff until it starts to feel repetitive. But I still did find some really cool and unique stuff for sale. The most impressive thing they had to offer was their lineup of celebrity meet and greets. Kel Mitchell, 4 actors from The Office, and freaking Tom Kenny...It was awesome. What I was not so impressed with was a few different aspects of organization. Some were cash only, some you could pay with card, some they could try with Venmo while others had never even heard of the app. And what really sucked is that unless there was a volunteer at the beginning of the line, you would have no idea until you got all the way up there. It was also very hard to tell the specific times that they were at their booths. It was basically like you just had to get lucky that they would be there. The pricing was also super inconsistent. Online it would say a certain meet and greet was $50, then at the event it would jump up to $70, THEN it would change to $40... I didn't quite understand that. The space it was held it was very large and nice. I liked how they had a shorter time period option that ended up being cheaper. Plus, they even let us in a little early. This con is not too bad. Not the best I've been to but most certainly not the worst."

Bardstown Road Aglow

★★★★☆ 4.4 (7)

"First time to stroll our way down Bardstown road aglow. Will definitely do it again. Fun Mardi Gras atmosphere. Street musicians. Shops restaurants and bars open and festive."

The Awesome Christmas Roller Coaster

★★★★★ 5 (3)

"The awesome Christmas roller coaster is a long time annual holiday staple of the Lousiville area. The home features a legit working roller coaster decoration that Santa rides along with all kinds of other cool decorations.The house for years was located on Adams run road in Lousiville has moved over to green manor drive a few years back. Still has the same fun and charm as it did at the previous location. The lights are awesome but the roller coaster is always the main event for me and my kids. It takes about 2.5 minutes for a full cycle but it is well worth the wait. A true holiday tradition me and the kids check out every year. It is also only a few miles away from other local legends off outer loop road in toyland Christmas and blue light show. Plus is a Mile or so away from highview holiday fest awesome lights at highview park. So it is truly in a hotspot for awesome holiday lights exploring and you can make a really cool and fun night in that small few mile radius. One thing I always like to give a friendly reminder to people when it comes to awesome light displays like this is for people to please remember this is in a functioning residential neighborhood and to please be courteous to peoples properties and privacy. It can get very crowded here especially the closer you get to Christmas. So just be patient and enjoy the lights and let everyone else do so as well. Overall very cool and fun tradition my family and I do every year. The owner has a sign where he says donations to help with his lg&e are appreciated. Which I can understand and I don't think that's outlandish as this house has provided holiday cheer for many over the years locally in the louisville area."

Limestone Comedy Festival

★★★★★ 5 (5)

"Had an absolute blast attending the second night of the LCF17. We went to see Fortune Feimster at the Buskirk. The opening acts were hilarious too. Fortune had everyone laughing and her interaction with the audience was great. After the show she sold her own merch in the lobby, signed autographs and posed for photos. This was our first time attending the Limestone Comedy Fest and we are hooked. Looking forward to next year. Thinking getting the multi-show pass next year would be a great idea."

Swiss Wine Festival

★★★☆☆ 3.2 (5)

"This has been an annual girls weekend for about the last decade for my friends and I. It's not too far of a drive from Louisville and we make a weekend out of it. Over the years the festival has changed a bit. There is now a wine tent, a beer tent and a craft beer/spirits tent. Each tent has its own admission charge. So in addition to paying the $5/$7 (depending on the day) to get into the festival, you could also pay 3 separate admissions for the drinking. We only go for the wine tent so this isn't a huge deal for us.The wine tent was $20 this year and includes all the samples, a glass and a small cheese tray. Don't get too excited about the cheese tray as it is literally 6-8 cubes of cheese and 2 packets of club crackers. Luckily, there is plenty of food outside the tent as part of the festival. There are normally 10-11 wineries and plenty of wine to sample. Some wineries do small pours while others "sample" half a glass. It's very easy to reach your limit quickly if you aren't paying attention. I typically use this festival as a quick way to stock up on my favorite wines without having to go to the winery. Most of the wineries have bottle discounts and some will even double their discount on Sunday. The festival itself has a few craft vendors and different booths to shop at. I picked up a few candles this year as well as some slushie mix for tailgating. There is free parking as well and they have done groupons for discounted entry in the past."

Tulips and Juleps

★★★★★ 5 (2)

"With spring right around the corner, I was eager to get into the spirit and welcome and celebrate it this past weekend. Tulips and Juleps art and gift market at Slugger Field provided the perfect opportunity to do some spring-themed shopping and begin to look forward to the exciting Derby season. Held annually, and often in the atrium of Slugger Field, Tulips and Juleps is a spring and Derby themed market and celebration of the coming season. Sponsored by the Junior League of Louisville, this year's festival brought together more than 66 vendors for 3 days of shopping, and one evening of festivities with "Juleps after Dark" on Saturday. There was a large variety of vendors from both local shops -- Clayton and Crume, Julep Candle Company, Hungry Artist - Natasha Reed, and Scarlet and Olivia come to mind -- as well as those that had traveled, such as The Shine Project, Ace & Everett, and Nectar of the Vine. I walked away with several bags of fun goodies and some new local places to check out soon. Saturday evening is a part of the festival not to be missed. Vendors are still present for encore shopping, and a $20 donation gets you admission, hors d'oeuvres, and 2 drink tickets to enjoy some local libations. This year featured Ballotin whiskey's chocolate Mint Julep (a new favorite!) and wine from Old 502 Winery. I meandered around with several girlfriends to sip, shop, and savor the upcoming Derby season. With this year's festival over and done with, I'm already excited for next year and the great kickoff to spring that is Tulips and Juleps!"

Oldham County Fairgrounds

★★★★☆ 4 (3)

"The Oldham County Fair was tons of fun!! We were honestly just looking for something different to do over the weekend and came across this fair on Facebook. It's a bit of a drive, being in Oldham County, but it seemed worth it after our day there. When we got there, it was $15 for admission + parking. It was cash only, so I'd recommend bringing some, or else you'll have to pull over and use the atm like we had to. Parking was pretty easy to do though, there was plenty of room for it. For a county fair, this one was fairly large and had a lot to do. There were pageants, a demolition derby, rides, petting zoo, camel rides, and plenty of food! The rides are free with admission, which was an awesome plus. The pricing for everything else was pretty much your typical fair price. Just a couple things that I wasn't a fan of. First being the employee at one of the games that came up to us and told a joke about mentally handicapped people....yeah, did not appreciate that. Also, almost the entire fairgrounds is gravel, which is not fun if you're wearing sandals. I would highly recommend wearing tennis shoes!! All in all, it was a good time. There's definitely a lot to keep you entertained for a while, and even if it's a bit of a drive for you too, it's still worth it."

St James Court Art Show

★★★★★ 4.7 (48)

"We had a good time at the St James Art Fair this weekend. Its a really nice place that has many art venders all from around the area and other states. It was super crowded and hot. So this being said my young daughters did not want to be there so we did not get to stay as long as my wife had wanted. But we will had a good time and will be back."

Made Market

★★★★☆ 4 (10)

"There are so many markets (with vendors selling their goods) out there, but you will not find one more highly curated than Made Market. Local and regional makers bring the goods for this market, which has been held at a variety of places. They typically do a summer market for a day and a holiday market for a day, so mark your calendar!Jams, succulents, artwork, greeting cards, jewelry, clothes, candles, housewares, and all sorts of things... Made Market has it. I love buying stuff for myself AND for loved ones. Keep an eye on their social media pages for dates and announcements. (Note: they currently do these in Louisville and in Grand Rapids, MI.)"

Old Louisville SpringFest

★★★★☆ 3.9 (12)

"We weren't able to go for a very long time, but it was still a fantastic event!Lots of great vendors with handmade things (the man with the Turkish jewelry was my favorite). The best of the food trucks! Beer tent (with alcoholic slushies for the kid in all of us). Live music and dancing. I wish we had gone earlier and had more time to enjoy. But what a fantastic event all around!"