2024 Beer Fest FAQ, Kentucky Craft Brewery Pop Quiz, Chicken Dance Tutorial, and More
Welcome to Summer Beer Fest week, y’all!
I’ll never underappreciate the beauty of a rainbow and the immediate inspiration they provide to adjust the day. This rainbow our Nick Cook photographed in the Highlands—descending behind our 2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier billboard!—had me especially giddy.
A rainbow pokes out behind the 2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier billboard on Bardstown Road at Midland Avenue, June 26, 2024. Credit: Nick Cook.
Fifty-two weeks a year, our team at the Frazier works hard for our visitors, students, and seniors in the relentless pursuit of thought-provoking activations, the magic of storytelling, and the thrilling exploration of Kentucky history. This week, we are hosting a fundraiser to support much of that work.
The Frazier will be closed to the public this Saturday, July 27, for our most attended fundraiser of the year—and tickets are still available, so please join us! This whole issue of Frazier Weekly is dedicated to getting you ready. We’re excited to introduce what we hope will be the biggest Chicken Dance in Kentucky at 6 p.m. on Main Street.
I’m confident our team has you covered with all the other details you’ll need, so I won’t blather on. But I would like to thank our twenty-seven Kentucky brewers for participating, our nearly 100 volunteers, and our many sponsors, whose support ensures all of you a good time and the Frazier a great event.
This year’s t-shirts are sponsored by Chase Marketing, modeled fashionably by our staff of Frazier Weekly authors. Scroll down to see all of them, and feel free to weigh in on who wore it best.
See you Saturday!
Andy Treinen
President & CEO
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier map.
We’re so excited to host our fourth annual Summer Beer Fest at Frazier this Saturday, July 27! As the museum’s largest annual fundraiser, Summer Beer Fest at Frazier financially supports our exhibitions and educational programs—including this newsletter, Frazier Weekly. So we hope you’ll come out to show your support!
What follows is an FAQ with answers to nearly every question you might have about this year’s beer fest.
Drone shot facing west above 2023 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, July 29, 2023. Credit: Matt Davis.
Festivalgoers pose at 2023 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, July 29, 2023. Credit: Isaac Barnett.
Festivalgoers enjoy 2023 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, July 29, 2023. Credit: Isaac Barnett.
ABOUT TIME & LOCATION
When is it?
Saturday, July 27, 2024
VIP Admission, 4–8 p.m.
General Admission, 5–8 p.m.
Where is it?
Frazier History Museum
829 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202
This year’s beer fest will take place in front of the museum, on Main Street between Eighth and Ninth Streets; and on the side of the museum, on Ninth between Main and Washington. The Frazier Museum and our Gateway Garden, which extends from Main to Washington on the east side of the museum, will host the Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. VIP experience. Traffic will be rerouted so the festival can occupy the whole block.
Is the museum open?
The museum and museum shop are closed to the public all day, but open to festivalgoers starting at 4 p.m.
Where can I park?
There will be no public parking in the Frazier’s lot (located at Ninth & Washington) that day. However, there are parking garages and surface lots in the immediate surrounding area. Please check out this Downtown Louisville parking map to review your options.
Guests are also encouraged to carpool or rideshare. Please ride responsibly.
Where is the point of entry?
There will be two points of entry, one located at Eighth and Main Streets and a second located at Ninth and Washington Streets. VIP ticketholders may enter starting at 4 p.m. GA ticketholders may enter starting at 5 p.m.
ABOUT THE BEER FEST
What’s on tap?
This year, we will have more than 200 specialty beers—many of which will be available exclusively to festivalgoers who purchased VIP tickets. On tap will be a wide variety of craft and specialty beers brewed by local, regional, and out-of-state breweries. In addition to the selection of standard craft and specialty beers, festivalgoers will have access to a selection of gluten-free/gluten-reduced beers, low-calorie IPAs, hard ciders, spiked seltzers, RTDs, wines, and kombuchas.
Breweries and beverage vendors include:
Against the Grain, Aksaha Brewing, Apocalypse Brew Works, Awry Brewing, Bluegrass Brewing Co., Blue Stallion Brewing Co., Country Boy Brewing, Dreaming Creek Brewery, Elixir Kombucha (non-alcoholic), Falls City Brewing (VIP only), Goodwood Brewing & Spirits, Gravely Brewing Co., Hometown Brewing Co., Last Stop Brewing, Lexington Brewing & Distilling, Mile Wide Beer Company, Mirror Twin Brewing, Noble Funk Brewing (VIP only), Old 502 Winery (wines), River Forge Brewery, Sig Luscher Brewery, TEN20 Craft Brewery, Trellis Brewing Co., Versailles Brewing Company, West Sixth Brewery, and Yancey’s Gastropub & Brewery.
Is there food?
Food vendors will include Bearno’s, Lou Diggity’s No Doubt, the Misfit Lou, and Sunergos Coffee serving cold brews. In the VIP area, RK Bluegrass will sell food.
Where can I sit?
Watson’s will furnish the GA and VIP tents with furniture for festivalgoers to lounge on!
Where can I cool off?
There will be an air-conditioned TARC bus parked on Ninth Street for festivalgoers to cool off in! There will be an additional “cool Kentucky” experience on Ninth Street, too!
Is there music?
The Hot Sauce Brass Band will roam the street performing! Brass Band of Louisville will perform a set from the Republic Bank stage above the museum’s front entrance. Brass Band of Louisville will perform “the Chicken Dance” at 6 p.m., inviting all in attendance to join! They’ll also perform a rendition of the 1982 Hazel Miller hit “Look What We Can Do, Louisville.”
What does a VIP Ticket get me?
A VIP Ticket gets you: early access, indoor access to museum exhibitions, indoor bathrooms (and air conditioning!), and access to the Frazier’s Gateway Garden and exclusive additional beers.
What’s in the Fun Zone?
Located at Ninth and Main Streets, the Fun Zone will feature games and activities such as cornhole, Puttshack, and a dunk tank! The festivalgoer who dunks the most wins tickets to Bourbon and Beyond or Louder than Life! McCoy & Hiestand will offer a beer pong activation, as well. Vendor Shady Rays will sell sunglasses.
What time does it end?
It ends at 8 p.m.
ABOUT TICKETS & ADMISSION
How much are tickets?
A ticket costs $90 (VIP) or $50 (GA). Don’t forget: on Twofer Tuesday, July 23, you can buy 2 GA tickets for the price of 1!
As an alternative to VIP and GA, there is a third option: a DD (Designated Driver) Ticket. That costs $10, at any time.
Secure your tickets now at fraziermuseum.org/beer-fest.
Can I buy a ticket the day of?
Yes! However, we strongly encourage everyone purchase their tickets in advance for faster entry or in case of a sellout.
Can I bring my child?
This is an adults-only event. No one under age 21—including babies, toddlers, or children—is permitted.
Where is my ticket?
The ticket is in your email inbox. When you purchased the ticket, you received an email from our ticketing platform, On Tap Tix. Each ticket has a QR code that appears near the bottom of the email. (If you purchased multiple tickets, there are multiple QR codes in the same email.) Please have that email open on your phone when you approach the beer fest entrance so we can scan it.
If you can't find your ticket, please provide a volunteer your name and ID so they can manually check you in.
Do I need my ID?
Please have your valid ID readily available for age verification.
What am I allowed to bring?
There are a few rules:
No outside food or drink.
No large bags or backpacks. (Small bags only.)
No umbrellas. (Ponchos only.)
No pets.
Louisville Water encourages guests to bring an empty, transparent water bottle. If you do, you can fill it up at the Louisville Water refill station. The station also provides paper cups. Frazier staff will check your bottle at entry points to ensure it enters the beer fest empty.
What if it rains?
Summer Beer Fest at Frazier is a rain or shine event!
ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE
Who should I contact for additional information?
For more info about this year’s beer fest, contact the Frazier’s membership and partnership manager Leslie Anderson at landerson@fraziermuseum.org. For media inquiries, contact the Frazier’s communications and research specialist Simon Meiners at smeiners@fraziermuseum.org or (502) 753-5668.
Who are the sponsors?
We thank our sponsors Louisville Downtown Partnership, Summit Media, Blue Oval SK, Bob Hook Chevrolet, Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co., McCoy & Hiestand, Republic Bank, Puttshack, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Louisville Tourism, Ale-8-One, Chase Marketing, Kentucky Guild of Brewers, Louisville Public Media, Louisville Water, TARC, Watson’s, and Danny Wimmer Presents.
Where do the proceeds go?
Proceeds from beer fest ticket sales support the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs, including free or reduced admission for Title 1 students; Frazier Weekly, the “Let’s Talk: Bridging the Divide” series; summer, fall, and winter camps; guided tours, guest engagements, and Stories in Mind, which brings the Frazier into long-term care communities.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Museum Shop: Summery Blue Beer Fest T-shirts
Stephen Yates and Heidi Janes model the summery blue 2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier t-shirts sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
We’re totally hyped for Beer Fest this Saturday and can’t wait to show off our awesome new shirts! The entire staff will be twinning, so join the fun and grab one for yourself at the Museum Shop on Saturday. (We’re open during Beer Fest to beer fest ticketholders). Let’s make this the most epic Beer Fest ever! Cheers.
Pop Quiz: Can You Match the Kentucky Craft Beer to the Brewery?
Map of Kentucky breweries to be represented at 2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
One of the best parts of my job at the Frazier History Museum has been working with Kentucky’s brewers and getting them to participate in Summer Beer Fest at Frazier. The 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit we opened in March inspired me to explore how Summer Beer Fest can engage brewers across the Commonwealth and promote the craft beer industry thriving right here in Kentucky. From Adair to Woodford, Kentucky’s craft beer and craft breweries are points of pride for the state. I am so grateful to the owners, brewers, and brewery personnel who will donate their time, product, and labor to make our beer fest the best ever!
There is a full list of participating Kentucky breweries on our website and in this issue of Frazier Weekly, so I thought I would tease a selection of Kentucky craft beers that our participating breweries will have on tap! Here is your chance to play a little game and guess which brewery will pour samples of beers listed below. (The answers are listed beneath this article!)
Leslie Anderson
Membership & Partnership Manager
Thank You to our 2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier Sponsors!
As we approach our fourth annual Summer Beer Fest, I’d like to take a moment to extend a warm thank you to our incredible sponsors! Thank you to our returning sponsors Louisville Downtown Partnership, McCoy & Hiestand PLC, Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co., Republic Bank, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Louisville Water, the Kentucky Guild of Brewers, and Danny Wimmer Presents.
And a special thank you to our new sponsors this year, Blue Oval SK, Bob Hook Chevrolet, Puttshack, Louisville Tourism, Chase Marketing, Inc., Watson’s, Louisville Public Media, TARC, and Ale-8-One.
Your generous support will make this event a tremendous success. We couldn’t do it without you!
Now let’s enjoy some craft beer, do the chicken dance, and have a whole lot of fun!
Hayley Harlow
Sr. Manager of Fundraising
Brass Band of Louisville, Costumed Chicken to Lead Festivalgoers in Chicken Dance
Costumed chicken practices the Chicken Dance on Main Street, July 17, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck,
Flap, flap, flap, flap,
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
That’s right: we’re doing the Chicken Dance! Mostly associated with Oktoberfest, the Chicken Dance (originally “Der Ententanz” or “the Duck Dance”) is perhaps the most ubiquitous choreographed drinking song in history, and although it doesn’t have roots in Kentucky we couldn’t, in good conscience, put on a beer fest without it.
If you’re unfamiliar with the dance (but really, who’s never done the Chicken Dance?), it’s a simple set of four movements followed by a do-si-do. First, turn your hands into beaks and cluck. Then turn your elbows into wings and flap. Then shake your hips, clap your hands, swing ’round a partner, and there’s your dance!
In keeping with certain Germanic traditions, our rendition of the Chicken Dance will be presented with a brass band, beer in hand, and promptly on schedule. And in keeping with more American traditions, we will be led through the steps by a person in a large chicken costume. We’ll start the dance at 6 o’clock, but don’t worry about setting a reminder, we’ll make an announcement when the time comes. We hope you’ll join us for this festive reel, but remember—despite our most confident assertions to the contrary, beer does not actually make you a better dancer.
Kent Klarer
Grant Manager & Writer
Curator’s Corner: Falls City and Oertel’s Artifacts at Beer Fest
From front, Amanda Briede, Dakota Wilson, and Tish Boyer of the Frazier’s exhibits and collections team talk to festivalgoers about Louisville beer history during last year’s Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, July 29, 2023. Credit: Isaac Barnett.
Once again, for Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, registrar and manager of collections engagement Tish Boyer and I will be inside the museum in the VIP section showing off some objects and sharing Louisville’s beer history.
Some of our favorite objects from beer fests past will be coming out. But this year we have some exciting new bottles to show off. Well, they aren’t exactly new: these bottles were on loan and featured in our Prohibition exhibition several years ago. The bottles have now found their way into our permanent collection.
Louisville’s big three breweries—Fehr’s, Falls City, and Oertel’s—all survived Prohibition. But did you know that one way they survived was to produce soft drinks? If you stop by our booth, you can see some of those Falls City and Oertel’s soft drink bottles. (Sorry, no pics! You have to come see us to check them out!)
So, this Saturday, make plans to come see us inside in the VIP section in the AC and up your knowledge of Louisville beer history.
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Nappy Roots Makes a Clutch Move Ahead of Beer Fest
Watermelon Chiquen Gritz beer. Credit: Nappy Roots.
Ron Clutch of Nappy Roots delivers a case of Watermelon Chiquen Gritz Golden Ales to the Frazier’s Erine Sato for 2024 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, July 16, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
A shoutout to Nappy Roots and member Ron Clutch for a special delivery to Erine Sato, our senior director of events at the Frazier. The group donated a case of beer to be poured in our VIP area at Beer Fest.
And it’s not just any beer: it’s their own beer, available for purchase here. They now own a brewery in Atlanta called Atlantucky Brewing. Their beer is distributed locally through Against the Grain. Nappy Roots, an alternative Southern rap group, got its start when members met in Bowling Green, Warren County, while attending Western Kentucky University.
Rachel Platt poses with Nappy Roots members Ron Clutch, left, and B. Stille at the Frazier’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit opening, March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
On March 15, Ron and other members of Nappy Roots came to the opening of our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit. As part of the exhibit, our Simon Meiners came up with a playlist representing each county in our state—and the song he selected for Warren County is the 2008 Nappy Roots hit “Good Day.”
We hope Nappy Roots will be part of our Summer Beer Fest next year in person. Wouldn’t that be fun? In the meantime, you can get a taste of their Watermelon Chiquen Gritz while supplies last in our VIP area.
That should help make it a really “Good Day.”
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
