Article Contributed by Michael Stegner
Published on 2026-09-29
All photos: Courtesy of Danny Wimmer Presents
For two consecutive weekends every September, Danny Wimmer Presents transforms the sprawling Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville into one of the country’s largest destinations for live music, first filling it with four days of hard rock and metal for Louder Than Life before following it with four days of rock, country, Americana, bluegrass and more for Bourbon & Beyond. The two festivals have become an increasingly important part of Louisville’s musical identity, bringing a record 400,000 fans through the gates across two weekends this year. In 2025, DWP and Kentucky Venues committed to keeping both events at the Kentucky Exposition Center through 2035.
Bourbon & Beyond’s 2026 event was its biggest yet, featuring more than 100 artists across five stages. Having lived in Kentucky my whole life and never attended until this year, it was clear that the festival has grown into something considerably larger than a collection of concerts on several stages. The grounds themselves are a major part of the experience.
For an event of this size, the Kentucky Exposition Center was remarkably easy to navigate. There was plenty of shade, enormous stages that allowed crowds to spread out during the day, short lines for food and drinks, and plenty of places to take a break between sets. The two main stages sit directly next to each other, allowing for minimal breaks in music between acts. A smaller, similar stage setup lies on the other side of the venue, with two additional stages side by side. The addition of Kentucky Kingdom was another genuinely unique touch, giving festivalgoers access to amusement park rides without ever having to leave the grounds.
The event organizers’ attention to the overall festival experience is part of what separates Bourbon & Beyond from a traditional multi-stage music festival. Yes, the music is the centerpiece, but between sets there was bourbon, food, culinary demonstrations, conversations at the Fork & Flask stage, and even rides at Kentucky Kingdom. It felt less like spending four days at a concert and more like spending four days inside a temporary city built around Kentucky culture.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky itself was central to the weekend. On Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear took to the main stage in front of a sea of concertgoers to announce the creation of the Governor’s Office of Music, a new state office intended to support Kentucky artists, venues, festivals and music businesses while highlighting Kentucky’s long musical history. Beshear also appeared at the Fork & Flask stage for “A Taste of the Commonwealth,” a conversation centered on Kentucky food, bourbon and culture.
The announcements felt particularly appropriate at a festival that has increasingly become a showcase for the state itself. Kentucky’s musical legacy was represented by artists big and small from Lexington, eastern Kentucky and Appalachia, western Kentucky, and Louisville-area communities.
With all that said, of course, the music was still the reason to be there.
Opening day offered a demanding schedule for fans of the electric guitar, with Gary Clark Jr., Goose, The War on Drugs, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters all appearing Thursday. For Grateful Web readers, Goose was one of the day’s most anticipated performances, and the band did not disappoint. It was my first time seeing them since their post-COVID glow-up, having only seen them once for free in 2018 at a small bar in Covington.
There were plenty of festivalgoers around the stage who had never seen the band before, and it didn’t take long to see them getting pulled into the performance. By the middle of the set, plenty of newcomers appeared to be fully on board, dancing, cheering and embracing the band’s improvisational approach. It was a great reminder of what makes the live jam scene so exciting and a warm welcome for any newcomers to the jam genre.
The War on Drugs followed with the atmospheric, meticulously layered sound that has made them such a compelling live act, while Queens of the Stone Age brought a heavier edge to the evening, shredding their way through their catalog of hits.
Then came Foo Fighters. The band could have simply delivered its traditional festival-closing victory lap. Instead, they spent roughly half an hour doing something considerably more personal.
Dave Grohl introduced each member of the band and talked about the groups they had played in before joining Foo Fighters. The band then performed a song connected to each member’s musical history, turning what could have been a standard headlining set into a celebration of the musical paths that brought Foo Fighters together.
As the covers played, archival footage from early ’90s punk rock shows filled the enormous screens behind the stage. The effect was intimate despite the massive setting. For a few minutes, Foo Fighters weren’t simply one of the biggest rock bands in the world; they were a group of musicians remembering and honoring where they came from.
Most importantly, the tribute shifted the spotlight away from Grohl and toward the musicians standing beside him. It was a generous gesture from a frontman who could easily command every second of a festival headline set, although nobody would have been upset if they had squeezed a Nirvana cover into the moment.
Friday continued the festival’s genre-hopping approach, moving effortlessly from Americana and roots music to psychedelic rock and mainstream country. Acts such as Amigo the Devil, Marcus King Band, Kitchen Dwellers, Father John Misty and The Flaming Lips demonstrated just how broad the festival’s musical palette has become.
The Flaming Lips were one of the weekend’s most memorable performances for me. There is a wonderful sense of whimsy to a Flaming Lips show, and they brought all of it to Bourbon & Beyond. Lights, colorful props, oversized inflatables and the band’s playful stage presentation transformed the performance into something much more than a conventional rock concert.
As the band played, the sun dropped behind the stage, creating a gorgeous sunset backdrop that seemed almost too perfectly timed. It was spectacular without taking itself too seriously, which is exactly what makes The Flaming Lips so much fun.
Friday also brought another kind of spectacle with Violent Femmes. Their set was simply a blast. The band’s unmistakable sound translated perfectly to the festival environment, and their enthusiasm made it impossible not to have fun watching them. In a weekend filled with enormous productions and superstar headliners, Violent Femmes were a great reminder that you don’t need a massive stage show to command a festival crowd.
The festival’s strong bluegrass identity deserves its own mention, too. Tucked into the grounds was a large covered tent, The Bluegrass Situation, with wooden floors and enormous bars flanking both sides of the stage. The design gave the space the feel of an old-school honky-tonk saloon transplanted into the middle of a massive modern festival. It became one of the most inviting places on the grounds to step out of the sun, settle in with a drink and discover a new artist.
That setting was great for performances from Sierra Hull, Still Unknown, Magoo and Kitchen Dwellers. The tent provided a more intimate atmosphere than the festival’s other stages, and it became an ideal home for the bluegrass and roots side of Bourbon & Beyond.
Saturday leaned heavily into the Americana and country sides of the festival lineup, with Charley Crockett, Infamous Stringdusters, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Red Clay Strays and Noah Cyrus among the day’s highlights.
Grateful Web took the opportunity to check out the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park during the day on Saturday, providing a unique break from the festival merriment and offering the chance to experience some great thrill rides alongside like-minded music fans.
With an enormous full moon hovering over the festival that evening, fans had settled into the weekend and familiarized themselves with the venue by the time Chris Stapleton was serenading the crowd with his signature soulful, raspy voice and wrapping up the evening on the main stage.
Sunday brought the festival to its conclusion with another particularly eclectic lineup. Amos Lee, Portugal. The Man, Jesse Welles, Hootie & the Blowfish and Counting Crows filled out the final day before Dave Matthews Band closed the festival. The Bluegrass Situation also featured The Steel Wheels and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, providing one final reminder that the festival’s musical identity extends well beyond its biggest names.
Dave Matthews Band’s Sunday night set served as a fitting finale to four days of music spread across the grounds.
There was also a subtle indication throughout the weekend that Bourbon & Beyond is still evolving. During the festival, its branding began shifting toward “& Beyond,” reflecting an effort to broaden the festival’s identity beyond its original bourbon-centered concept while maintaining bourbon as an important part of the experience. After nearly a decade, the festival has clearly become something larger than its original premise: a massive celebration of music, food, bourbon and Kentucky culture.
Bourbon & Beyond has found a remarkably effective home at the Kentucky Exposition Center, and the scale of the 2026 festival demonstrated just how much the event has grown. With its sprawling grounds, multiple massive stages, diverse programming and unusually comfortable festival infrastructure, it manages to feel enormous without constantly feeling overwhelming.
If the first several years of Bourbon & Beyond were about establishing the festival, its future now looks like it’s about defining the festival’s legacy. With another decade secured in Louisville, there is plenty of time to find out what that legacy looks like.
