New ‘Cocktail Week’ Event Joins Bardstown, KY’s Spring Activities Line-Up
Bourbon Capital of the World toasts bourbon, trains, arts/antiques shows and more
BARDSTOWN, KY – MARCH 2016 – Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World and Most Beautiful Small Town in America, pours it on for spring with several bourbon events, including the new Cocktail Week; antiques and art shows; and fun themed train excursions – everything from train robberies to murder to . . . you guessed it: bourbon. Click here to see the full Calendar of Events.
In Bardstown, it’s all about the bourbon
Six distilleries (with another one coming), a museum on whiskey history, a Bourbon Heritage Center and a shop devoted exclusively to all things bourbon just aren’t enough for the home of the famed Kentucky Bourbon Festival. So they’ve added another event: Bardstown’s inaugural Cocktail Week takes place April 27-30 and features innovative cocktails and distillery/restaurant pairings.
The event rolls right into the Kentucky Bourbon Festival’s Mixed Drink Challenge and Spring Sampler on Saturday, April 30. During the former, master bartenders strut their stuff by creating the perfect “Sparkling Bourbon Cocktail,” using Kentucky bourbon as their main ingredient. The Judge’s Choice winner will be named the Official Cocktail for the 2016 Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Join the fun and make your voice heard by helping select the People’s Choice winner.
At 7 p.m. that evening, the Bardstown Sampler takes place. Sip fine Kentucky bourbon, nosh catered delectables and collect branded specialty glasses while getting a sneak peek of what will be available at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Sept. 13-18, 2016. Ticket information: 502-348-3623 #5, www.KyBourbonFestival.com
Themed train rides are leaving the station
Join Kentucky Railway Museum for its themed excursions: Easter Eggspress, 1-3 p.m. March 26, has the Easter Bunny onboard to pass out treats to all the children; Train Robbery excursions, 1-3 p.m. April 16-17 and May 14-15; Dining on the Rails, 1-3 p.m. April 23 and May 21, aboard a 1940’s dining car; and 40’s Day, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. May 21, with WWII re-enactors, equipment from the era, Ladies for Liberty and swing dancing.
These approximately one-and-a-half-hour excursions travel through the scenic Rolling Fork River Valley. Ticket information: 502-549-5470 or 800-272-0152, www.KyRail.org
It’s murder most foul with a four-course meal aboard My Old Kentucky Dinner Train’s Murder Mystery excursions, scheduled for 5-7:30 p.m. March 26, April 23 and May 28. This fun-filled excursion includes a two-and-a-half-hour train ride through the Kentucky countryside, gourmet dinner and a theatre production of a murder mystery.
On May 14, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train rolls through the countryside on a Bourbon Excursion, 5-7:30 p.m., featuring a complimentary bourbon cocktail and tasting and a four-course meal prepared by its award-winning culinary team. Ticket information: 502-348-7300 or 866-801-3463, www.KyDinnerTrain.com
Shows old, new and in bloom
Bring your mad money to the Nelson County High School for the 49th Annual Antique Show & Sale, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. April 9-10. One hundred dealers from a dozen states will be set up and selling a wide range of antiques – from vintage collectibles to museum quality artifacts – and all at reasonable prices. Admission $6. 502-348-4877 or 800-638-4877
See more than 100 paintings by 30 artists on display at Wickland Estate during the Studio II Art Show, where you will also have an opportunity to meet the artists. Opening reception is 1-5 p.m. on May 1; exhibition hours are 3-5 p.m. May 2-6. An extravagant exhibition of local artists, the show is enhanced by the beauty of this historic home, which was constructed between 1825 and 1828 and features airy main halls, massive rooms, 14 1/2-foot ceilings and stunning architectural appointments.
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest’s annual celebration of spring gets underway, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on May 21: Local artisans, food vendors, farmers market, musical entertainment, garden lectures and plenty of kids’ activities – arts, crafts, garden faerie house construction, naturalist-led discovery stations and more – are on tap on this day that also includes Bernheim’s annual Spring Plant Sale. Here is your chance to buy Bernheim Select, a distinctive variety of plants propagated from Bernheim’s own collections, plus a varied selection of other unique trees, shrubs, grasses, perennial herbaceous plants and summer garden plants. 502-955-8512, www.Bernheim.org
Visit www.VisitBardstown.com for information about these events, as well as accommodations, restaurants and attractions for your springtime visit to the Bourbon Capital of the World and Most Beautiful Small Town in America.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dawn Przystal, Vice President-Bardstown-Nelson County TCC, 800-638-4877 x 114
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission
PHOTOS
The new Cocktail Week joins Bardstown’s line-up of springtime fun.
Photo: Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission
Train robberies are just one of many themed excursions offered by the Kentucky Railway Museum.
Photo: Kentucky Railway Museum
See beautiful paintings by Nelson County, KY artists, including Terry Mullins, during the Studio II Art Show at Wickland in Bardstown.
Photo: Wickland Home of Three Governors
HI- and LOW-RES photos available.
ABOUT BARDSTOWN, KY | Located in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country and situated at the trailhead of the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, Bardstown is more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” It is home to six distilleries, including Barton 1792 and Willett Distillery, and these four Kentucky Bourbon Trail® distilleries: Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam and Four Roses’ second campus. Major attractions include the outdoor musical, “The Stephen Foster Story,” My Old Kentucky Home State Park, the highly regarded Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, The Kentucky Railway Museum and Whisky Magazine’s Visitor Attraction of the Year – the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, two haunted tours and numerous religious attractions. Fodor picked Bardstown as one of “America’s Best Small Towns” and AARP named it one of its “10 best small towns.” It led TheCultureTrip.com’s list of the “10 Most Beautiful Towns in Kentucky” and was named the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” in the Rand McNally/USA Today 2012 “Best of the Road” contest. Bardstown landed in the top 20 of “America’s Favorite Towns” by Travel + Leisure – which also recognized it as having one of “America’s Most Beautiful Town Squares.” In 2013, Bardstown was designated a certified Kentucky Cultural District, one of only six Kentucky cities to achieve this honor. www.facebook.com/BardstownKY