Festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents is excited to announce a major festival site expansion and extensive enhancements to elevate the experience for fans at Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky for the upcoming Bourbon & Beyond (September 11-14) and
Louder Than Life (September 18-21) festivals.
These incredible upgrades to the 2025 festival site are possible as part of DWP’s recently announced 10-year lease agreement with Kentucky Venues to host Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life at the Highland Festival Grounds.
The 10-year commitment runs from 2026-2035 and showcases both DWP’s and the city’s commitment to Louisville’s cultural and economic future.
The newly expanded festival footprint for Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life makes greater use of the Kentucky Exposition Center’s infrastructure, creating a more comfortable and resilient experience for fans.
More space will improve the crowd flow and there will be more room for all to relax and enjoy the onsite festival
experiences.
In addition, all festival passes will include FREE access to amusement rides inside Kentucky Kingdom (which will be part of the festival footprint and open exclusively to festival attendees), including the Giant Wheel (ferris wheel, with extended hours), Lightning Run roller coaster, and more fan-favorites.
In addition, a 7th stage has been added to Louder Than Life inside the park featuring a dozen new music artists
– XweaponX, Haywire 617, Silly Goose, Unearth, War of Ages, Convictions, Upon A Burning Body, The Browning, Fight From Within, Orthodox, Fox Lake, and 156/Silence.
“This move has been years in the making, and we’re thrilled to finally bring it to life. With Bourbon & Beyond, and Louder Than Life both growing year over year, we knew it was time for more space, more comfort, and more ways to elevate the fan experience beyond just the music,” says Danny Wimmer of DWP.
“The new layout delivers so much to be excited about: expanded shade, indoor experiences, air-conditioned areas, and—thanks to our collaboration with Kentucky Kingdom—an amusement park inside the festival. It’s a truly unique addition that brings incredible value to fans, along with more food options, more ways to cool off, and so much more to explore. I’m ecstatic because this is just the beginning of something truly special for our festivals in Louisville.”
Check out virtual videos of the reimagined festival sites here:
Bourbon & Beyond: https://youtu.be/JqyUx_iv4ks
Louder Than Life: https://youtu.be/–5VlliI9lU
Here are some of the key updates and enhancements to the festival grounds:
More Comfort & More Space
DWP is rolling out sitewide enhancements to make festivalgoers’ weekends smoother, more comfortable, and
easier to keep cool.
● An immersive merch experience inside the climate-controlled Kentucky Expo Center, featuring festival
gear, additional activations, and lounge seating
● More tree-shaded areas throughout the grounds to beat the heat
● Expanded turf zones at the main stages and GA areas
● A more spacious layout designed to let fans stretch out, sway easy, and savor every moment between
sets
● An added main entrance to help ease the flow and get fans in the gates quicker
● Bourbon & Beyond will be more than doubling its GA Lawn Chair Pass capacity and releasing more
for purchase. Current passholders will have first access starting tomorrow (August 7) at 12:00 PM ET
before any remaining are released to the public Friday, August 8 at 12:00 PM ET.
All festival passes now include:
● FREE access to amusement rides inside Kentucky Kingdom from 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM daily (closed to
the public during the festivals)
● Attractions include the Giant Wheel (ferris wheel, with extended hours), Lightning Run roller coaster,
Scream Extreme and Skycatcher, for a total of 18 fan-favorites
● Extra shaded areas, picnic spots & restrooms
● Select concessions, shopping & air-conditioned indoor dining
● The Kentucky Kingdom Water Park will not be open/accessible to festival patrons or the public during
this time.
VIP Just Got An Upgrade
● MINT VIP is now 35% larger than ever before, with an expanded layout designed for extra comfort
Brand-new 3-story shaded viewing platform offering an elevated view of both main stages (replacing
former outdoor patio)
● Added large shade structure for additional coverage throughout VIP area
Transportation & Festival Entry Improvements
● Festival site will be able to better utilize the infrastructure in place on the festival grounds, including
roadways and parking as they were originally designed
● A second festival entrance will be added this year
● Dedicated rideshare/taxi area
● Shuttles will be vastly improved
● More details on the specific traffic and parking plan will be provided in the coming weeks
Bourbon & Beyond–The World’s Largest Bourbon, Food & Music Festival—returns for its 7th year September 11-14 with an incredible lineup of music talent including The Lumineers, Benson Boone and Alabama Shakes (reunion) on Thursday; followed by Phish (playing two sets; their only festival appearance of
2025 and first Louisville show in three decades), 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.
Additional “must-see” sets during the 4-day event include Cage The Elephant, TV On The Radio, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lake Street Dive, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Foreigner (in one of the final announced dates of the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees’ Farewell Tour), Third Eye Blind, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, and many more.
The 4-day destination event has expanded to a total of five music stages and over 120 music artists in 2025, along with the festival’s culinary and bourbon experiences, following Bourbon & Beyond’s record breaking year in 2024 and winning Pollstar’s Global 2025 Festival of the Year.
Bourbon & Beyond offers multi-sensory opportunities and programming showcasing the country’s best chefs and rich bourbon culture on the Fork & Flask curated by Kroger Stage.
Hosts Chef Chris Santos (Chopped) and Chef Edward Lee (The Mind of a Chef) lead the culinary demonstrations and will be joined by acclaimed chefs including Chef Claudette Zepeda (Top Chef Season 15 and Founder of Chispa Hospitality), Chef Esther Choi (Food Network TV personality, Beat Bobby Flay and
Chopped), Local Louisville Chef Anthony Lamas, (Seviche A Latin Restaurant and Bar Rescue), and Chef Lawrence Weeks (North of Bourbon).
The Fork & Flask curated by Kroger Stage will also feature bourbon expert Chris Blandford and Chef Amanda Freitag (Top Chef and Chopped) with premium brands including
Old Rip Van Winkle, Angel’s Envy, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Buffalo Trace and more.
This year’s programming will also spotlight Kentucky Proud products, celebrating locally sourced ingredients and the
farmers and producers who help make Kentucky a world-class culinary destination.
Louder Than Life returns September 18-21 with one of the biggest and LOUDEST festivals in North America
all year. Over 160 bands will perform on 7 stages for the 11th edition of the festival.
Louder Than Life 2025 also marks the largest lineup in the history of producer Danny Wimmer Presents.
America’s Loudest Rock & Metal Festival will feature the return of metal legends Slayer, Rob Zombie in a global exclusive performance of Astro-Creep: 2000 in honor of the album’s 25th anniversary, plus Marilyn Manson on Thursday; Avenged
Sevenfold, Sleep Token and Breaking Benjamin on Friday; Deftones, Bad Omens and A Perfect Circle on
Saturday; and Bring Me The Horizon, $uicideboy$ and Evanescence on Sunday.
Louder Than Life will also feature performances from Knocked Loose, Three Days Grace, Lamb of God, Mudvayne, I Prevail,
Spiritbox, All Time Low, Dream Theater, Stone Temple Pilots, Motionless In White, Cypress Hill, Acid Bath, DOWN, Lorna Shore, Bruce Dickinson, and many more.
In 2024, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life generated a total of more than $33 million in economic impact, according to Louisville Tourism, and drew more than 300,000 attendees, booking over 60,000 hotel room nights and creating a visitor boom at local restaurants and other businesses, including bourbon distilleries along the Urban Bourbon Trail.
Since DWP’s debut Louisville festival, Louder Than Life in 2014,
the DWP festivals have experienced remarkable growth, expanding from 36,000 attendees over two days to
nearly 400,000 attendees over eight days.
The 2024 edition was a record-breaking year, with over 70% of fans coming from outside Louisville, representing all 50 states and 27 countries.
Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center is located at 937 Phillips Lane in Louisville,
Kentucky. Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life are produced by Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents, one of the largest independent producers of destination music festivals in America.
