From Louisville Metro. . .
LOUISVILLE, Ky. The popular ReSurfaced initiative, which transformed a vacant lot on Main Street in downtown Louisville into an art/performance/beer garden that attracted thousands of people, will reopen in June with a bourbon and local food theme.
ReSurfaced: The Bourbon Edition will launch Thursday, June 4 and coincide with The Kentucky Bourbon Affair™ fantasy camp, sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. The KDA is also a lead sponsor of ReSurfaced: The Bourbon Edition.
ReSurfaced will remain open each Thursday, Friday and Saturday during June (except Saturday June 20, when a private event is planned for the venue). The space will feature live music, art, and local food.
“ReSurfaced quickly became a beloved venue and, soon after it closed last year, people began asking when it would reopen,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Partnering with the distillers during The Kentucky Bourbon Affair made an ideal pairing, like a fine bourbon and branch water.”
Fischer said the event will also provide a taste of what’s coming in June 2016 — a major new bourbon and local food festival for the city.
“There are many food and wine festivals throughout the world,” he said. “We are turning that concept into a new, unique experience.”
“Main Street is truly the home of the bourbon industry, both historically and in its current resurgence,” said Rebecca Matheny, Executive Director of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. “We are thrilled to work with the KDA and City Collaborative to bring this exciting new event to Resurfaced and West Main Street.”
The new Bourbon Edition of the Resurfaced initiative is being curated by the effort’s founder, City Collaborative. City Collaborative is a non-profit, community-based team that has provided high impact, fast-tracked projects such as the Louisville Love App and the Resurfaced initiative. The dynamic team provides concepts and execution that are intended to have large scale impact that can be seen, heard and felt throughout the community.
KDA President Eric Gregory said, “We’re thrilled to help bring ReSurfaced back to life as part of the Kentucky Bourbon Affair, which is all about extraordinary experiences. And what’s more fun than an eclectic Bourbon block party in the heart of downtown on Whiskey Row?”
ReSurfaced and The Kentucky Bourbon Affair™ are among numerous accomplishments since the release one year ago of the Mayor’s Bourbon and Local Food report, a plan to make Louisville the culinary and spirits capital of the world — and thus grow tourism, the economy and jobs.
The 22-page report detailed numerous strategies to accelerate the goal of being the best culinary and spirits capital in the world.
With six major recommendations, and numerous smaller ones, the work group suggested everything from building a downtown bourbon/food visitors center to creating a public art piece that is a “must have photo” for tourists, the bourbon equivalent of the big Slugger bat. Other ideas were more centered on education, such as developing a certification program that would create an army of proven bourbon experts in Louisville’s hospitality industry.
Milestones and accomplishments from the past year include:
- Announcing the $45 million Old Forester distillery on Main Street, to open in fall 2016;
- Opening of the Bulleit Bourbon experience at the legendary Stitzel-Weller Distillery, now the ninth stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® tour;
- Planning for the downtown Bourbon District, led by The Downtown Partnership;
- Numerous food-related national accolades, including Zagat recently naming Louisville one of America’s “10 hot food cities.”
- Construction starting or completion of several new distilleries, including Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co., the new Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse, Angel’s Envy, Michter’s and Copper & Kings.
- Creation of the Stave and Thief Society by the Distilled Spirits Epicenter to educate front-line hospitality workers about bourbon and its history;
- Installation of the Evan Williams state historical marker on Main Street across from the Evan Williams Bourbon experience;
- Announcing the Frazier History Museum – KDA partnership to develop a Bourbon gateway center and make it the official launching point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® experiences;
- Kentucky Bourbon Affair returning to Louisville, the official host city, and the expanded culinary component of the Kentucky Bourbon Affair to feature local food and chefs;
- Louisville Visitor’s Center becomes official Kentucky Bourbon Trail T-shirt distribution site, driving visitors there;
- Urban Bourbon Trail grows from 9 original stops in 2008 to 34 participating bars and restaurants;
- Home-grown associations experiencing membership growth (Bourbon Women, Bourbon Brotherhood, Bourbon Society and Whiskey Chicks);
- Derby City Shine announces opening this summer;
- Record attendance at Louisville’s hosting of the American Distilling Institute’s annual conference in April;
- Urban Bourbon Half-Marathon launched last fall by Louisville Sports Commission;
- Bourbon Chase moves opening reception to Louisville ;
- Bourbon Classic celebrates third year of spirits and culinary events with record numbers;
- Mint Julep Tours adds new programs, Cave Hill Cemetery launches bourbon legends tour, Louisville Visitors Center launches “Whiskey Wednesday” walking tours of Whiskey Row.
