Bourbon & Beyond 2025 – Official Weekend Recap

The seventh Bourbon & Beyond welcomed fans from over 50 states and around the globe and over 120 music artists on five stages to Louisville, Kentucky over the weekend. The World’s Largest Bourbon, Food & Music Festival was held from September 11-14 at the at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky and featured an incredible music lineup of music legends and rising stars with headliners The Lumineers, Benson Boone and Alabama Shakes on Thursday; Phish, Khruangbin and Joe Bonamassa on Friday; Sturgill “Johnny Blue Skies” Simpson, Jack White and Vance Joy on Saturday; and Noah Kahan, Goo Goo Dolls and Megan Moroney on Sunday. The lineup also included Cage The Elephant, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Collective Soul, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Iron & Wine, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Switchfoot, Third Eye Blind, Ringo Starr & His All Star Band, Pixies, Lake Street Dive, Dashboard Confessional, Foreigner, Blues Traveler and many others.

This year, Bourbon & Beyond’s newly expanded footprint doubled the square footage of past layouts, and made greater use of the Kentucky Exposition Center’s infrastructure, creating a more comfortable and resilient experience for fans. In addition, all festival passes included FREE access to amusement rides inside Kentucky Kingdom.

This year’s festival was packed with unforgettable performances, surprise collaborations, and historic moments that will be remembered for years to come.

The Fork & Flask curated by Kroger Stage brought together an extraordinary lineup of culinary and spirits programming, featuring celebrity chefs including Chris Santos (Chopped), Edward Lee (The Mind of a Chef), Claudette Zepeda (Top Chef Season 15, Founder of Chispa Hospitality), Chef Esther Choi (Food Network TV personality, Beat Bobby Flay and Chopped), Louisville’s own Anthony Lamas, (Seviche A Latin Restaurant and Bar Rescue), and Chef Lawrence Weeks (North of Bourbon).

The stage also welcomed bourbon expert Chris Blandford and Chef Amanda Freitag (Top Chef and Chopped) alongside tastings from premium brands including Old Rip Van Winkle, Angel’s Envy, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Buffalo Trace and more.

Video by Alex Ochoa. Jake Miller, Sam Shapiro, Dan LaDue, Preston Saunders, Hunter Kaufman, Nick Siemens, Beau Trembly, Chris Adams
DIT: Billy Catlin

Photos by Steve Thrasher, Lexie Alley, Jake Mulka, Nathan Zucker, Austin Cooper, Jordan Pantoja