Louisville is a Southern surprise that spent much of the 21st century a tad underappreciated. But in the last decade, Kentucky‘s cultural capital has emerged as a hip and artsy destination, overflowing with fabulous food and stiff old-fashioneds. There’s lots to do, even on a budget, and it’s an easy city to get around in.
Built on the back of bourbon and icons of American sport (Muhammed Ali, Louisville Slugger, the Kentucky Derby), Louisville is busiest in spring, when bourbon is in full production and the world’s greatest thoroughbreds are set loose at the Run for the Roses. But the appeal of Kentucky’s coolest city is not bound by seasonal whims – in Derby City, the bourbon pours warm and smooth year-round.
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Mid-March to June and September to October are best for horse races
Louisville’s high season understandably revolves around weather and horse racing. Winter begins to fade into the rearview mirror around mid-March, and the live racing season kicks off at Churchill Downs in late April, a week before the world-famous Kentucky Derby. Spring also sees bourbon in full production, so it’s the best time of the year for escaping the city for a little tasting on the Bourbon Trail.
Live racing continues into early July, before the city gets too hot to handle, and then returns in September and again in October through Thanksgiving. These are the best times to visit the city.
Of course, spring is also the most crowded time, especially around the Kentucky Derby Festival and the Run for the Roses. Hotel rooms skyrocket between late April and early May, when Louisville’s biggest city-wide events are on. These fabulous festivities are once-in-a-lifetime experiences but do come part-in-parcel with higher prices.
Enjoy Mint Julep Month and the start of the Derby in April
Louisville is drenched in Derby revelry for a full two weeks prior to race day, and the festivities officially kick off in mid-April with Thunder Over Louisville, the largest annual fireworks display in the US. April also celebrate’s the Derby’s favorite cocktail with Mint Julep Month. You can enjoy this concoction of bourbon, sugar, water, shaved ice and fresh mint throughout the city.
Celebrate May with the Derby and the Beatles
The “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” comes to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, and the final week of the Kentucky Derby Festival leads up to race day. The rest of the month is spent nursing the hangover!
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And though it was moved across the river to Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 2017, the five-day Abbey Road on the River, the world’s largest Beatles-inspired music festival, rounds out May.
Pride and pilsner usher in the summer in June
Summer
has finally arrived, but the true heat remains a month away, making it an ideal
time to stay outside and play. The first of Louisville’s two big LGBTIQ+ events, Kentuckiana Pride, takes place
along the waterfront, as does another hop-soaked craft beer festival, Kentucky Craft Bash. Ali Fest celebrates the Greatest That Ever Was at the excellent Muhammed
Ali Center.
July
and August are great for ballgames and museums
Summer is hot and muggy in Louisville, with July and August average temps pushing 90°F. But it’s a great time to catch the Louisville Bats, a Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Or if soccer is more your thing, check out Louisville City FC.
The
annual 4th of July fireworks show is a fun celebration. And all of the city’s wonderful museums – Muhammad Ali Center, Kentucky
Science Center, Louisville
Slugger Museum & Factory, Frazier
History Museum – blast the air conditioning if you need to an excuse to beat the heat!
September’s
Bourbon Heritage Month brings a bevy of music festivals
In
September, bourbon is the belle of the ball during Bourbon Heritage Month. Two massively popular bourbon-fueled music festivals, Bourbon & Beyond (folk,
rock, bourbon) and Louder
Than Life (alt-rock, rock, bourbon, craft beer) draw whopping crowds,
as does the Louisville
Pride Festival. The year’s second meet of live racing at
Churchill Downs kicks off mid-month through October 2.
Enjoy art and nature in October and November
Nights are distinctly
cooler in October, but an average daily high of 70°F makes for a fantastic
outdoor arts setting, and the free St
James Court Art Show has been at it since 1957, featuring hundreds of
artisans from throughout the Americas.
Halloween-themed
events – such as the magical Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular,
which fantastically illuminates Iroquois Park with hundreds of elaborately
carved works of pumpkin art – draw merrymakers of the macabre.
And in early November, peak fall colors arrive,
making this a particularly beautiful time to take advantage of a drop in
visitors before winter creeps in and temps start falling off significantly. You
still catch a bit of live horse racing during Churchill Downs’ third and final
meet of the year, and pre-Thanksgiving events, such as Lights Under Louisville,
ensure this is still a worthwhile month to visit.
Bundle up to enjoy holiday events in November and December
Though it’s considered
a Southern city by geography and culture, Louisville in winter is more on par
with the bitterly cold Midwest than the far more moderate South. By January,
average lows are below freezing, but all is not lost on a winter visit to
northern Kentucky.
While several holiday-related festivals and annual shows, including Lights Under Louisville and Fete de Noel, attract festive crowds, the big numbers have dispersed. Outside of holiday events, there are hotel deals to be had as well. Holiday pop-up bars also begin to spring up. Check out Louisville’s tourism board for details.
March brings warmer weather, craft beer and a whole lot of madness
The sun comes out to welcome festival season with two beer festivals: the NuLu Bock Fest, a bock-fueled nod to Louisville’s German history and the Tailspin Ale Fest, Louisville’s signature craft beer festival. Expect live music, racing goats and a whole lot of hops. Louisville is also a big college basketball town, so bars are packed for March Madness – especially if the University of Louisville or University of Kentucky are playing.
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