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The Trifesta kicks off on the second weekend of September with its newest festival, focusing on country music and bourbon. The inaugural 2019 edition was headlined by Tim McGraw, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, and Keith Urban.
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An amusement park and water park.
A former limestone quarry beneath the Louisville Zoo, partially converted into a unique underground attraction (other parts are being converted into a secure commercial storage facility). Features the world's only underground bike park, only fully underground zip line course, and only fully underground ropes course. For the less adventurous, motorized tours are offered year-round, and on evenings during the holiday season (just before Thanksgiving to just after New Year's) the cavern is opened to passenger vehicles for a drive-through holiday light show.
One of the most famous horse-racing tracks in the world, and site of the Kentucky Derby. Race meets are held for approximately 4 months out of the year: 2 months following the Derby, then again in September and again in November. Check the website to see if racing will be going on when you visit Louisville
Two floors of exhibits devoted not only to the Derby, but also the history of American Thoroughbred racing in general. Notable exhibits include a Derby "time machine" that allows visitors to watch replays of every Derby since 1918, and a cemetery where five Derby winners are buried. Also offers several special tours of Churchill Downs, most of which are extra-cost. In addition to the Derby winners buried inside the gates, the grave of 2006 winner Barbaro, marked by a life-size statue, is outside the gates and is freely accessible to the public.
Top notch museum with a permanent collection and rotating exhibits.
A less expensive alternative for Division I sports is the teams representing Bellarmine University, a small Catholic school in southeast Louisville. The Knights started a transition from Division II in 2020, joining the ASUN Conference, a league consisting mostly of smaller public and private schools in the southeastern US. While most sports play on campus, the men's and women's basketball teams play at Freedom Hall, the former home of U of L basketball at the Kentucky Exposition Center near the airport. (Note that parking at Freedom Hall is an added charge.) Bellarmine will field its first football team in 2022, but with a twist—instead of playing standard American football, it will play a variant known as "sprint football". This version uses college football rules, but players can weigh no more than 178 pounds (81 kg). For basketball ticket information, call the Freedom Hall ticket office at +1 502 367-5144 or follow the links provided on this page of Bellarmine's athletic website. Tickets for other sports can usually be obtained at the door.