Kentucky bourbon festivals, month by month
Updated November 2026 · BourbonTown Tours
Kentucky's bourbon festivals on this page include the Bourbon Classic in Louisville in February, National Bourbon Day in June, and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown in mid-September, inside Bourbon Heritage Month. Confirm the dates on each event's own site before you book flights or rooms. For private distillery tours during Bourbon Festival week, book 6 months or more ahead.
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Quick facts
- The Bourbon Classic runs in Louisville in February.
- National Bourbon Day falls in June.
- The Kentucky Bourbon Festival runs in Bardstown in mid-September, inside Bourbon Heritage Month.
- A private tour during Bourbon Festival week needs 6 months or more of notice.
- Private tours cost $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.
- The events on this page were checked in September 2026, so confirm each one's dates on its own site.
The bourbon events in this guide fall in February, June and September
The bourbon events below are listed by the month each falls in. Read the months as a guide, then check each event's own site for this year's dates before you commit to travel.
- Bourbon Classic, Louisville, February. Bourbon tastings, educational sessions and food pairings.
- National Bourbon Day, June.
- Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bardstown, mid-September. A program of tastings, seminars, cooking demonstrations and live music, with some sessions led by master distillers.
- Bourbon Heritage Month, September. The Bardstown festival falls inside it.
Our 2027 Kentucky bourbon calendar lays the year out month by month, so you can see where the February, June and September events fall before you pick dates.
Bourbon & Beyond is still running as well; its own site gives this year's dates and location.
September holds the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and Bourbon Heritage Month, and it is also the month that asks for the most notice if your group wants private distillery tours during the same week.
Bourbon Festival week in Bardstown needs 6 months or more of notice
Book a private tour for Kentucky Bourbon Festival week 6 months or more ahead, the longest notice period on our booking calendar. Bardstown, known as the Bourbon Capital of the World, sits about 50 minutes south of Louisville, and Heaven Hill, Willett and Bardstown Bourbon Company are all in town.
Buffalo Trace has a lead time of its own, whatever the month you travel. Ask for it at least 10 weeks out, and if your trip lands in Bourbon Festival week, the 6-month festival notice already covers it.
Distillery tickets are included in the tour price. In a festival month, we book distillery tickets once your tour is confirmed, against your actual dates, and confirm every reservation in the itinerary. On a festival trip, pickup is at the guest's hotel or door in Louisville, Bardstown or Lexington; hotels are covered on our page on where to stay in Kentucky bourbon country.
Every month's lead time is in our bourbon tour planning guide, and the page on how we build a custom private tour covers the day itself.
The Kentucky Derby Festival fills Louisville before Derby Day
Thunder Over Louisville, a fireworks show, opens the Kentucky Derby Festival, and about two weeks of events follow, leading up to the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Those weeks bring parades, hot-air balloon events and concerts. The festival's own site carries this year's schedule.
A private tour in Derby week needs 4 to 6 months of notice. The festival leads straight into Derby week, and October, April and May are the peak months, and those weekends fill first, so they need more notice than the usual 2 to 4 months, so a spring trip timed to the festival is one to book early.
On Keeneland race days, a morning tour then the track works, as our bourbon tour planning guide explains. On Derby, we provide transportation to and from Churchill Downs, not a tour. For rides to and from Churchill Downs on race day, see our Kentucky Derby transportation page.
Annual festivals in and near Kentucky reach well past bourbon
The festivals below are still running, and each one posts its own dates:
- ROMP, Owensboro. A four-day bluegrass music festival.
- Great American Brass Band Festival, Danville, June. Brass band performances.
- St. James Court Art Show, Louisville. Held since 1957 in the historic Old Louisville neighborhood.
- Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, Louisville, October. Displays of hand-carved pumpkins.
- World Chicken Festival, London, Kentucky. Four days of chicken, honoring Colonel Harland Sanders, who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- Harvest Homecoming, New Albany, Indiana. An annual fall festival.
None of these is a bourbon event. For wine, our guide to Kentucky wine tours lists the wineries a group can add to a day out, and a group with its own plan can book a driver through our transportation-only service.
Frequently asked questions
What month is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival held in?
Mid-September is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival's month, and Bardstown is its home; the festival's own site publishes the exact dates for each year. The program covers tastings, seminars, cooking demonstrations and live music. If your group wants private distillery tours during the same week, contact us 6 months or more ahead, because festival week carries the longest notice period of any week we book.
How far ahead should we book a tour for Bourbon Festival week?
Book 6 months or more before Bourbon Festival week, which asks for more notice than any other week of the year. If Buffalo Trace matters to you, reach out at least 10 weeks ahead. Derby week needs 4 to 6 months; fall and spring weekends need more notice; the rest of the year needs 2 to 4 months. We can sometimes build a day on a week's notice, but distillery tours may already be full. The month-by-month booking guide has the detail.
What bourbon events happen outside September?
Outside September, this page lists the Bourbon Classic in Louisville in February and National Bourbon Day in June. The Bourbon Classic brings bourbon tastings, educational sessions and food pairings together in one event. Check each event's own site for its dates first.
Do we book our own distillery tickets during festival season?
No. Distillery tickets are included in the tour price, and we book distillery tickets once your tour is confirmed, against your actual dates, then confirm every reservation in the itinerary. For Bourbon Festival week, book 6 months or more ahead. Bottles are always on the guest. Our page on the way we build a custom private tour covers the rest of the day.
How many distilleries fit into one day of a festival trip?
Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call. That holds on a festival trip too. Sunday hours are shorter and vary by distillery, so a Sunday on your festival trip is planned on its own terms. Our bourbon tour planning guide sets out how a full day runs, including what changes on a Sunday and where lunch fits.
Build your distillery days around a festival
Send us the festival you are planning around and your dates, and we will build the distillery days to fit. Every tour is for one booked group, and each one includes everything except lunch and driver gratuity; the rates by group size are on our bourbon tour cost page. We reply the same day between 8 AM and 8 PM Eastern. Requests after 8 PM get a reply the next morning.
Your tour includes:
- Trip planned by a Bourbon Experience Coordinator; a professional guide drives the tour
- Distillery tickets booked for you
- Lunch reservation made (meal on your tab)