Things to do / Travel Guide
From world-class theater to country music class, moon pie mania to Grand Ole Opry opulence, Central Kentucky and Tennessee's annual events calendar is packed.
February
Hoots and hollers provide the vocal background to Bowling Green, Kentucky's Annual Lone Star World Championship Rodeo. Held in the Ag Expo Center, enjoy two full days of some of the most raucous events - bareback horse riding, bull riding, barrel racing, and even unique rodeo clowns. This event has been drawing crowds for nearly a quarter of a century.
One of the largest indoor farm shows in the U.S., the National Farm Machinery Show is held every year at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville. Running for three days in mid-February, the exposé of some of the most technologically savvy farm vendors in the agricultural industry, you can wander among a whopping 800 exhibits on more than 1 million square feet. The oldest indoor tractor pull in the U.S. takes place in the Freedom Hall, where the nation's most revered tractor drivers compete for $200,000.
March
Lauded by Newsweek, Time Magazine, and the Miami Herald, Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, dubbed the “Kentucky Derby of Drama,” attracts producers, agents, critics, and top-notch new-theater productions from all over the world. The festival's performances run from the last weekend in February through the first week of April.
More than 250 professional songwriters show up for over 70 shows during Nashville's weeklong Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival held at various venues throughout the city.
April
Girl time and girl talk are what make the weekend-long Southern Women's Show in Nashville a great getaway. Held at the Nashville Convention Center, the event features everything from women's health forums to makeovers, home improvement, and home-buying investment strategies.
You'll hear the hee-haws a mile away from the Charlie Daniels' Championship Rodeo in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Barrel racing, calf roping, steer roping, and bull riding are just a few of the family-fun festivities you can enjoy.
The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, held at Lexington's Kentucky Horse Park, is the only four-star equestrian competition in North America and one of the most highly-rated equine competitions in the world. Tests of movement and obedience, jumping, and showmanship determine the prestigious winner.
May
The Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville is an enjoyable horseracing event that is one of the region's most popular (reserve tickets in advance). And anybody who is anybody will be at the Iroquois Hunt Ball and The Giddy-Up Gala - Nashville's most hoity-toity events of the year.
The Kentucky Derby starts off with a bang, quite literally, at the Thunder Over Louisville event held on the city's Riverfront. The enormous event features one of the country's largest firework shows (44 tons launched from twin floats) and more than 70 events for the entire family.
Mint juleps, haute couture hats, picnics, and balloon, bicycle, and steamboat races provide the 10-day context for the most exciting two minutes in thoroughbred horse racing. Kentuckians (and visitors) get misty-eyed at the crowd's sentimental rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home,” sung ceremoniously before the races begin. Since 1875, the Kentucky Derby, held at the historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, has attracted over 1 million people, claiming the attention of the rich and famous, and people from all over the world travel to take part in the annual races as spectators.
June
Take a swig of an RC Cola and wash down some famous, marshmallow-y cookie sandwich moon pies at the annual RC and Moon Pie Festival held in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. The world's largest moon pie is just one of the weekend's delectable delights, so come on out and experience this tasty Tennessee tradition.
The four-day Lexington Festival of the Bluegrass is one of the world's largest bluegrass music festivals. Attendees from all over the country (not just the South) come to applaud the heartfelt ballads of bands like Lonesome River Band and Mountain Heart.
July
Join in the 20-year Nashville tradition and celebrate Independence Day along the Cumberland River in Nashville's Riverfront Park. Fireworks, food, and fun await you on the Fourth!
A musical memorial to Grand Ole Opry superstar Uncle Dave Macon, the Uncle Dave Macon Days Festival begins the Thursday after July 4th in Murfreesboro and features high-energy acoustic, instrumental, and dance competitions.
It's a fiddlin' frenzy at the weekend-long Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree held in Smithville, Tennessee. Rated one of the top bluegrass, folk, and Appalachian music competitions in the country, more than 100,000 visitors trek in to see the country's best fiddlers make their bows bound and bob off strings.
August
You will definitely find the deal of your life at the weekend-long World's Longest Yard Sale. This bombastic bazaar offering everything a homeowner could want (or want to get rid of) runs 500 miles down the U.S. Highway 127 corridor between Kentucky, Alabama, and Tennessee. Key stops along the way include Frankfort, Harrodsburg, Russel Springs, and Albany in Kentucky, and Jamestown, Crossville, and Dunlap, in Tennessee.
Pigs race, roosters compete with their crows, and child singing sensations croon to the hoots and hollers of over 600,000 spectators at the Pride of Kentucky, Kentucky State Fair held over 10 days at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.
September
The World Chicken Festival was voted one of the Southeast Tourism Society's “Top 20” events. More than 250,000 visitors enjoy rides, games, contests, and chicken fried in the world's largest skillet during this free four-day commemoration of Colonel Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken legacy. The event is held in London, Kentucky.
You'll find yourself humming a happy tune at the Music City Jazz Blues and Heritage Festival at Nashville's Riverfront Park. The weekend-long event features performances by locally- and nationally-acclaimed stars including musicians like Grammy-winning David Sanborn and The Robert Cray Band.
You will certainly find yourself in fine spirits at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, held in Bardstown. Hot air balloons, bourbon tastings, and tours of the Bourbon trail are just a few of the events of this four-day extravaganza.
October
Cooking with Jack Daniels is the theme of the Jack Daniel's World Championship Cookoff in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Festivities include games, crafts, food booths, and the nation's best Jack Daniels' recipes.
November (through January)
While the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville always sparkles with glitz and glamour, at the annual A Country Christmas more than 2 million bulbs enhance the glitter to a blinding effect. From November-January, carriage rides, ice sculpture shows, and a host of star-studded performances, including a Christmas Dinner Show, will help put you in the holiday spirit.
Decked out in her holiday best, Ruby Falls in Lookout Mountain's Point Park, in Chattanooga, is an impressive seasonal spectacle. From late-November through the first week of January, the Ruby Falls' Deck the Falls is an impressive display of dancing light patterns and sound effects that bring a festive and artistic spirit to the 145-foot waterfall, located 1,100 feet inside the mountain. Holiday tours to Ruby Falls last about an hour and leave every day, every few minutes from 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Christmas day excluded.
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