Louisville music festivals

Louisville hosts several music festivals every year with 100+ world-famous artists. The two biggest, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life, are both produced by Danny Wimmer Presents and held at the Highland Festival Grounds, 1016 Phillips Lane, Louisville, KY 40209.

Louder Than Life

Louder Than Life is an annual rock festival. It started in 2014 at Champions Park as a two-day event, grew to three days, moved to the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center in 2019, and expanded to four days in 2021. It was cancelled twice: in 2018 for bad weather and in 2020 for COVID-19. Expect whiskey, craft beer, gourmet food and plenty of exhibits.

Louder Than Life 2026

Thursday, September 17 to Sunday, September 20, 2026, with top artists including Iron Maiden, My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, Tool, Pantera, Pierce The Veil and Papa Roach. Last year’s lineup included Slayer, Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones and Breaking Benjamin. Info and tickets: louderthanlifefestival.com.

Past lineups: 2023, 2024, 2025.

Bourbon & Beyond

Bourbon & Beyond is an outdoor music festival with some of the top artists in the country, on the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Expo Center. Last year’s lineup featured Phish, Noah Kahan, The Lumineers and Jack White.

Bourbon & Beyond 2026

Four days, Thursday, September 24 to Sunday, September 27, 2026, with Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, The War on Drugs, Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews Band and many more.

Past lineups: 2023, 2024, 2025.

Map of the festival grounds (2024)

View the 2023 festival map

Forecastle

Forecastle was a three-day music, art and activism festival at Louisville Waterfront Park. Founded in 2002 as a small gathering of local musicians in Tyler Park, it grew into a national attraction with an economic impact of over $20 million a year and 75,000+ fans from nearly every state. Rolling Stone named it one of the “Coolest Festivals.” Past headliners include The Black Keys, Jack White, Beck, Sam Smith, Outkast, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Chris Stapleton, My Morning Jacket, Sturgill Simpson, Alabama Shakes, The Flaming Lips, The Avett Brothers and Widespread Panic.

Is Forecastle coming back?

Forecastle took a break in 2023 for the first time in 20 years and hasn't returned. Its website used to say:

Forecastle Festival will be taking a pause in 2023. It’s incredible to see what this festival has become and how the Louisville community has grown around it over the past 20 years.

The site now shows an error page, so the festival may be gone for good. For the archive, here's the Forecastle 2022 lineup.

Gazebo Festival

Gazebo was a newer festival on 85 acres of green space at Waterfront Park, with 26 acts on two stages over two days, including SZA, Vince Staples, James Blake, Omar Apollo, PinkPantheress, Veeze and Louisville native Jack Harlow. It last took place May 25–26, 2024, did not return in 2025 and hasn't been announced for 2026.

Hotels often sell out, are expensive or can't fit your group for festival weekends. A condo in The Highlands is a great alternative.