No festival is complete without a Bourbon Lodge. A real bourbon oasis featuring a flight bar, world renowned mixologists crafting their best signature cocktails, and Kentucky Master Distillers hosting fireside chats about what else – Bourbon! Wait, a fireside chat in July in the south? Don’t worry, the Bourbon Lodge offers festival goers air conditioning and full service rest rooms.
The Forecastle Festival is a three-day music, art and environmental activism festival that takes place in Louisville, KY. It’s an event that has consistently promoted local artists as well as focusing on environmental activism and outdoor recreation. It’s an event (some would say a movement) that started out with humble beginnings as a small neighborhood event in 2002 by JK McKnight that is now one of the most anticipated summer festivals of the year. The event draws tens of thousands of fans from across the world to Louisville’s scenic 85-acre Waterfront Park.
The Bourbon Lodge
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This year, the 2016 Forecastle Festival is bringing back its Kentucky Bourbon Trail outpost, The Bourbon Lodge, with a unique lineup of bourbon offerings, education, bourbon-inspired cuisine, and the revamped return of the charitable partnership, Bourbon Cares.
Wall Street Journal best-selling author Fred Minnick hailed Forecastle Festival as “bourbon’s most important festival for new consumers,” praising its creation of “future connoisseurs.”
Set to take place July 15-17, 2016, Forecastle will feature a diverse collection of Kentucky bourbon brands uniting to offer dozens of bourbon selections within the Bourbon Lodge, including those from Bulleit, Four Roses, Jim Beam, Larceny, Maker’s Mark, Michter’s, Old Forester, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve.
Forecastle Festival on the Waterfront
Forecastle will again feature the popular Bourbon Cares program. The 2016 edition will pair bourbon brands with Forecastle Foundation partners, to support numerous Kentucky-based conservation projects. Participating brands include Four Roses, Marker’s Mark, Wild Turkey, Old Forester and Woodford Reserve. Hand-picked, single-barrel selections will be sampled inside the Bourbon Lodge and sold by the bottle. A portion of proceeds from both samples and full bottle sales will benefit Forecastle Foundation partners, the festival’s 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Forecastle Mixology Station will also return, offering patrons the chance to turn their favorite bourbon into a hand-crafted cocktail, by a professional, local mixologist. New this year, select brands will offer signature craft cocktails, available exclusively at their Bourbon Lodge booth.
Bourbon Lodge activities will include Fireside Chats, offering an intimate, living-room setting for education on America’s native spirit. Festival-goers will have the chance to chat with master distillers and bourbon experts on everything from the spirit’s Kentucky roots and attributes, to the distillation, barreling and aging process, and more.
Returning for the third year in 2016, Forecastle welcomes a bar experience commemorating the legacy of Gonzo journalist and Kentucky bourbon aficionado, Hunter S. Thompson. The Gonzo Bar will offer a variety of bourbons and specialty cocktails inspired by the iconic writer.
New in 2016, the Gonzo Bar will feature Grant Goodwine as the Bar’s artist-in-residence, featuring his “traveling madhouse” of illustration, ink, watercolors, and various paintings inspired by the works of Hunter S. Thompson illustrator Ralph Steadman. The bar will also feature a film program in 2016, airing Hunter S. Thompson films and documentaries throughout the weekend.
Also new this year Local chef Jason Brauner of Louisville’s own Bourbons Bistro will be creating a unique, rotating bourbon-centered menu, featuring food from locally sourced farms.
General admission and VIP weekend passes, as well as Bourbon Lodge memberships, are currently available at ForecastleFest.com.
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