Bourbon & Beyond brings tens of thousands of tourists from across America to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Some of the biggest musicians on the planet are in Louisville this weekend for Bourbon & Beyond, attracting more than 100,000 people for the four-day festival at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

The gates at the Highland Festival Grounds opened at 11:30 a.m. for the second-straight day Friday. People headed to the grounds Friday came from as far away as Massachusetts, Colorado and South Dakota.

Bourbon & Beyond will be followed by four days of the Louder Than Life festival next weekend, and tournament organizers expect as many as 375,000 tickets sold for the two festivals. That’s more than double the attendance of the 150th Kentucky Derby.

But when it comes to economic impact, there’s no comparison. These music festivals bring in an estimated $33 million, which is significant, but Derby is still king with a $400 million annual economic impact.

Louisville tourism officials said Friday this already feels like the city’s second Super Bowl.

“It’s eight days of things going on,” said Rosanne Mastin, communications manager for the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Some people might just go one day, but some people might get passes for both weekends. So yeah, you’ll probably have more people, bodies that are here … but Derby definitely wins.”

Ansley Bennett and her friends from Alabama attended Bourbon & Beyond two years ago and had so much fun that they decided to come back. This time, they’re exploring a different part of the city each day before going into the festival.

“This is actually our first time venturing downtown,” Bennett said Friday. “Last time, we kind of ate in the suburbs. But there’s good food. Nice people. We’ve enjoyed it.”

A few rock stars taking the stage this weekend include Dave Matthews Band, Zach Bryan, The Beach Boys, Tyler Childers and hometown favorite My Morning Jacket, just to name a few.

Saturday’s lineup is expected to bring in a record crowd for Bourbon & Beyond. It was the only day to sell out, but organizers made more tickets available this week. And, with so many people in town, festival-goers will want to keep everchanging traffic patterns in mind, especially to get to Saturday’s Louisville football game, which isn’t far from the Highland Festival Grounds.

For everything you need to know before attending, click here.

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