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UPDATE: Due to weather, the festival will now be held only on Sunday, June 30.

Louisville Downtown Partnership will host the inaugural Downtown Pickleball Street Fest on Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30. The two-day event will celebrate the increasingly popular sport of pickleball and the diverse cultural environs of Downtown Louisville. There will be open play, clinics, and a tournament. The festival will include an artisan marketplace with local retailers, live entertainment, food trucks, cocktails, and local beers.

Wait. What is pickleball?

To the uninitiated, pickleball might look like ping pong played on a tennis court with a wiffle ball. And in a way, it is. Pickleball is a paddle sport in which two or four players hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball (not entirely unlike a wiffle ball) with paddles that are larger and heavier than ping pong paddles, over a 34-inch-high net until one side fails to return the ball. Pickleball can be played indoors (see also: venues like Logan Street Market) or outdoors. At the inaugural Downtown Pickleball Street Fest, it will be played outdoors on W. Jefferson St. between 4th and 5th, as well as on 4th St. between Market and Jefferson. The plaza at 4th and Jefferson will serve as the backdrop for the event.

But wait. Why is it called pickleball?

According to USA Pickleball, Pickleball was founded by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum on Bainbridge Island, WA during the summer of 1965. The name is a reference to the thrown-together leftover non-starters in the ‘pickle boat’ of crew races.

Downtown Pickleball Street Fest
4th and Jefferson

Saturday, June 29
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, June 30
8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

This article appears in Jun 5-18, 2024.

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Aria Baci is a writer and critic who has been working in print and digital media since 2015 for outlets as varied as Design*Sponge, Geeks OUT, Flame Con, and The Mary Sue. She is passionate about literature,...