Bourbon & Beyond has blossomed into a three-day music festival that celebrates the culture that goes along with Bourbon, America’s Native Spirit. Headliners for the music portion included The Foo Fighters, Robert Plant, John Fogarty, The Zac Brown Band, ZZ Top, and Hall and Oates. In all there were more than two dozen musical acts, but that’s not the only draw to this festival. There were also Master Distillers, Master Tasters, distillery owners, and more representing the distilling industry from across America.

Throughout the days there were multiple stages where people discussed everything from the role slaves played in the early days of the distilling business in America to what kinds of food to pair with your bourbon and everything in between. The Bourbon Pursuit recorded a podcast of one of their panels in which Preston Van Winkle spoke about his company’s role in getting the Bourbon Secondary Market on Facebook shut down, so be on the lookout for that recording here.

At this event you can watch the folks from Vendome Copper & Brass Works fashion a copper still right before your eyes. There are cocktail bars and whiskey bars aplenty, and some of the best food options that Louisville has to offer.

Music plays on three stages while other programming goes on on smaller stages throughout the daylight hours. And the festival grounds are HUGE, so there was lots of walking to be done between destinations.

Next year is going to be even bigger and more bourbony, as Bourbon & Beyond has joined forces with the Kentucky Bourbon Affair to turn this into a week-long festival extravaganza. According to the Kentucky Bourbon Affair’s press release, “This collaboration will open up all kinds of opportunities for the KBA and our guests, where we can combine the star power from Bourbon & Beyond with our exclusive Kentucky Bourbon experiences.”

It’s going to be hard to top this year’s Bourbon & Beyond, but I’m looking forward to seeing what next year brings!

Photos Courtesy of Maggie Kimberl