LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s two largest outdoor music festivals are here to stay. Danny Wimmer Presents announced Friday it will produce both Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life in the city for the next ten years.
The agreement was made with its current venue, the Kentucky Expo Center, and keeps the festivals in the Commonwealth through 2036.
“Today it’s just not about signing the deal, it’s about committing to a city that’s become part of our DNA,” said company founder Danny Wimmer. “There’s just something about this place you cannot replicate. I’m in 15 other cities. You can’t replicate it.”
This decision comes a month after the state General Assembly passed new financial incentives for large music festivals, allowing them to take home half of the event’s generated tax revenue.
Louder Than Life was first held in 2014 at Champions Park. Bourbon & Beyond would launch in 2017. Wimmer began hosting them on the grounds of the Kentucky Expo Center in 2019.
Last year’s events brought in over $33,000,000 in economic impact and set a record for its largest combined attendance according to a news release from DWP.
“DWP grew from 36,000 attendees over two days in 2014, to nearly 400,000 over eight days in 2024,” said Cleo Battle, president and CEO of Louisville Tourism.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville, called the deal another win for the city, and believes this makes his town so special.
“I think it’s our people,” said Greenberg. “It’s our hospitality. We love welcoming the world to our city. We do it this time of year for Derby, we do it for Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life in the fall, and we’ll do it more and more and more. We are a premiere hospitality destination.”
The eight days of live music and events hit the main stage in just five months.
