Forest Fest - Jefferson Memorial Forest

We have a stellar cast of food and beverage vendors at this year's festival! Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be available. We can't wait to try all the tasty grub! 🍽

Wondering what to bring (and what to leave at home) when you come out to Forest Fest? We've got you covered! This is a handy list to consider (yes, sunscreen *and* rain gear, this is spring in Kentucky!). See you Saturday!

We can’t believe it’s almost here—Forest Fest is NEXT Saturday, 5/16, from 11:30a-7p! Check out the lineup and plan ahead to attend workshops with the artists, hosted by the Louisville Folk School!

Come on out to 12408 Holsclaw Hill Rd and enjoy the music and local vendors! $15/car, all ages! 🌲✨

Forest Fest merch alert! 📣🌳

We have two new options this year. A boxier cropped fit in pepper grey, and a classic tee in laurel green.

Available at the fest while supplies last. $20.

Amelia Day is a musical jack-of-all-trades. Standing at the intersection of folk, rock, and pop, Day blends heartfelt storytelling, raw delivery, and unforgettable melodies into music that feels both fresh and familiar — like rediscovering an old favorite.

Day is proficient on guitar, keys, bass, and drums, often switching between instruments during her live performances. At other times, she lets the music take over — stepping away from the instruments to simply sing and dance with mic in hand. As the Vanderbilt Hustler highlights, her set is “energetic, emotional and full of fun, just like all of her music.

Already boasting over a million streams on a number of songs, Amelia Day continues to prove herself as both a songwriter and performer, emerging as a voice destined to resonate for years to come.

The Tillers have been thumping their own distinctive sound of string band style folk music for nearly two decades, riding it all over the country and across the sea. Four studio albums and one live record have won them praise as modern folk storytellers of the national soundscape.

The Tillers are Mike Oberst, Sean Geil, & Aaron Geil. They are magnetic showmen, mature musicians, and colorful storytellers.

They're clearly recovering punk rockers with roots in city’s west side punk rock and hardcore scene. Their punk influence gives their sound a distinctive bite, setting them apart from most other folk acts- a hard-driving percussive strum and stomp that brings new pulse and vinegar to some very old songs. Their musical range proves itself as they floated away from hard-tackle thumping to tender, graceful melody, all the while topped by Oberst and Geil’s clear tenor harmonies.

NPR Artist To Watch: Denitia

"Denitia's portfolio of work reveals melodic stories spanning states, cities and times. Fusing elements of country, folk and rock, Denitia establishes a newfound American utopia, ongoing and indefinite, uplifted by wistful vocals and the chimes of a tambourine. With her songs as mantras, Denitia aims to reimagine what it means to be home." - NPR

On her new album, Sunset Drive, Denitia shares her story of going after something new — a life back in Nashville, where she attended college, immersed in both the city’s roots music scene and the community of the artist collective Black Opry — while experiencing the menagerie of emotions that come with leaving behind what you knew and starting over. Across the album, she draws from the country and alternative rock music she listened to growing up outside of Houston; the songs of artists such as the Eagles, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, and Neil Young, ever present in her life; and the decade she spent entrenched in Brooklyn’s indie music scene.

Roadie is a band from Louisville, KY. Led by Chris Rodahaffer, and joined by a stellar cast of supporting musicians; bassist Jose Oreta, drummer Dani Markham, and keyboardist Woody Woodmansee. Collectively, this fine crew have toured the world and recorded with Houseplant, Childish Gambino, Bonnie Prince Billy, Ben Sollee, Dawn Landes, Wayne Graham, and many more.

A quartet with a groovy, psychedelic vibe, and a penchant for exploratory improvisations in their live shows. Their new record, Between Everything, is out now.

Fresh Cut Grass was formed in 1995 and has been bringing tightly-arranged bluegrass music to audiences ever since. While the lineup has changed significantly in recent years, founding member, Marty Bennett (Changing Times, Shannon Lawson Band) continues to sit at the helm on banjo. FCG also includes members with a long history of playing in the area and elsewhere– on guitar, Chris Brandstatt (Juggernaut Jug Band, Changing Times, Cast Iron Airplane, Roundabout) – on mandolin, John Dwyer (Troublesome Creek, Whistlin’ Rufus, Dram in the Attic) – on fiddle, Caleb Olin (Caleb Olin Band, Whistlin’ Rufus, Dram in the Attic) – on bass, Ben Conley (Kentucky Fried Pickin’, Troublesome Creek).

This new incarnation of FCG specializes in high-energy pickin’ and soulful harmony arrangements. Playing traditional bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, band originals, and more, FCG shows truly are a musical journey.