Bourbon & Beyond Proclaimed Largest Kentucky Festival Ever With 210,000 Attendees

What started as a lifestyle-branded sister event to the popular Louder Than Life metal festival has somewhat suddenly become the largest festival property produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, as a total of 210,000 attendees swarmed the Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 19-22.

Featuring four main stages and more than 100 artists, the event was a nonstop parade of tunes and brews (and Kentucky booze), with fans securing spots early with towels and chairs for highly anticipated sets, including by Zach Bryan, who headlined the record-breaking Saturday night that saw 60,000 attendees, according to DWP.

Highlights included Thursday-night headliner Sting, who stepped in to replace original booking Neil Young, who played an energetic set of fan favorites. He capped off ’90s-leaning night that also included packet sets by Beck, still stylishly able to both perform at a high level and look like he’s not trying — and Matchbox 20, whose frontman Rob Thomas ate up the 90-degree-plus sunshine, covered in sweat and encouraging the crowd to relish the moment.

Friday night was capped by a two-hour Dave Matthews Band set, which featured a tight band playing a stream of hits as well as covers including “Let’s Dance,” Stairway To Heaven” and “All Along The Watchtower.’ Headliners weren’t the only story, though, with fans braving the heat enjoying earlier sets by JJ Grey & Mofro, which many fans declared a highlight of the festival, a passionate performance from Melissa Etheridge and a rousing set from festival favorites Black Pumas. The stacked lineup meant having to choose between Tedeschi Trucks Band and Chris Isaak, for instance.

Saturday’s Zach Bryan headlining set had fans singing along to every word, and the country star’s set was preceded by other smoking country-leaning sets by Whiskey Myers and Cody Jinks. Earlier that day, Americana Award winner Sierra Farrell impressed many, as did Teddy Swims. Meanwhile, many are saying to keep an eye on rising singer-songwriter Niko Moon, who had an impressive 2:45 p.m. set.

Sunday was a big night for the indie/alternative fans, with The War On Drugs delivering a trademark dreamy performance, with only a short downpour bringing some relief from the heat. Back-to-back sets from the always-thunderous Dinosaur Jr., The National, My Morning Jacket and X Ambassadors all came before a barn-burning, jam-packed set for Americana star Tyler Childers.

“It’s sort of like now having to come up with Thriller 2,” said Del Williams, global head of talent at Danny Wimmer Presents. He said in early 2023 he saw the potential to take a big swing for 2024’s Bourbon & Beyond, got a hefty talent budget approved and had even better-than-expected results with the onsale. He said next year’s Bourbon & Beyond is already more than half-booked, with no intentions of getting smaller.

True to the festival’s name, the event provided a platform for craft food and spirits, including Derek Trucks, who on Wednesday night had a private launch of his own “Ass Pocket Whiskey,” a small-batch bourbon release at the nearby picturesque Ashbourne Farms in Kentucky, where he played a gig to a couple hundred super-fans and VIPs. Three-thousand 200 ml bottles of the “juice” were released, with most sold that night online. Along with his own shows, Trucks also made cameos at multiple sets over the weekend, including with Dave Matthews Band and Black Pumas.

The event included a 5K “Mayorthon” run taking place outside the festival grounds, in which both DWP CEO Danny Wimmer and CEO Danny Hayes competed, with more than 600 entrants overcoming hangovers Saturday morning to take part. Other participants included Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and the Bellarmine University boy’s wrestling team who were, not surprisingly, very fast.

The festival is followed by this weekend’s Louder Than Life, which is also expecting 200,000 attendees over four days Sept. 26-29. The event, featuring a slew of rock and metal mainstays, this year features one of very few performances by the reunited Slayer.

For 2023, Louisville Tourism reported that both festivals generated $30 million economic impact and over 60,000 room nights in hotels throughout the area.