Louisville, Kentucky

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The Black Heritage Tour Collection celebrates its second year with exhibits around Louisville showcasing African-American contributions to the city’s history and culture. Offerings highlight African-American influences in Kentucky with a special focus on bourbon, horseracing and local son Muhammad Ali. At the Kentucky Derby Museum, the newly expanded Black Heritage in Racing exhibit is now 20 times larger, showcasing artifacts and stories covering African-Americans’ legacy in the thoroughbred industry. The new Roots 101 African American Museum calls itself a “healing place” where visitors can experience African-Americans’ journeys through art, music, artifacts and education. Black owner and chef Ashlee Northington started Happy Belly Bistro as a food truck and is now serving her rotating menu of fusion foods as a permanent kiosk inside Ten20 Craft Brewery. The Urban Bourbon Trail® added Brough Brothers, the first Black-owned distillery in Kentucky, along with The Crafty, its first DIY bar. In other culinary news, James Beard award-winning chef John Currence recently opened Big Bad Breakfast, a new rooftop eatery atop the Copper & Kings American Brandy Company. After an $80 million renovation, the legendary Galt House Hotel has reopened. The city’s only waterfront hotel features Swizzle Dinner & Drinks, a revolving restaurant with spectacular views above the Ohio River. Origin Park, the Midwest’s first climate-adaptive park, is being built along the north side of the Ohio River in Indiana, across from Louisville. When completed, Origin Park will occupy most of the 600 acres of former wasteland, creating a unique outdoor venue with green fields, walking and biking paths, and more. In March, the team broke ground on the first stage — the Silver Creek Blueway. The project is a canoe and kayak launch site where Silver Creek intersects with the Ohio River. While there is no exact date for the completion of the entire park, the next phase of development will be the River House building in the southeast quadrant of the park, which will house the offices, an event center and arts programming. Visitors will be able to experience at least the launch site as early as this fall. 

The Big Four Arts Festival (Sept. 10–11), the most-attended two-day event ever held in Louisville, is located at Waterfront Park on the Big Four Bridge Lawn, on four acres of tree-lined walks overlooking the Ohio River. Bourbon & Beyond, the world’s largest bourbon and music festival, is returning to Louisville from Sept. 15–18 after a two-year hiatus. This year will mark the festival’s most-impressive venture yet by expanding to four full days. Louder Than Life, the largest rock festival in America that boasted a record-breaking crowd of 160,000 attendees in 2021, will return Sept. 22–25 to the Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center in Louisville. The four festival days will feature an incredible lineup of music, award-winning whiskey, bourbons, spirits and craft beer, along with sponsor activations that celebrate the bourbon culture and culinary heritage of Louisville. NULU Fest, on Sept. 24, is a street festival celebrating the continued growth and revitalization of Louisville’s East Market District. 

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