10 Upcoming Events In Louisville You Shouldn't Miss

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28

WFPK Waterfront Wednesday Big Four Bridge Free  |  6 p.m. If you’ve been to any Waterfront Wednesday this year, you know that the free event series is a big deal — thousands of people  flock to Waterfront Park on the last Wednesday of every month to see live bands, eat local food, drink and be merry. This Wednesday, three bands — Houseplant at 6 p.m., Hot Brown Smackdown at 7:30 p.m. and Yonder Mountain String Band at 9 p.m. — will bring an interesting mix of bluegrass and psychedelic rock to the waterfront. Unfortunately, with the arrival of colder temperatures comes the end of the series for this year, and this is the last Waterfront Wednesday of 2022. Don’t miss it.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 30

‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Opening Movie Night Hi-Wire Brewing $12  |  6-10 p.m. “Hocus Pocus 2” debuts on Sept. 30, and to celebrate, Hi-Wire Brewing is hosting a HalloQueen KickO Party with Drag Queen Storytime Kentucky. For the price of admission, you also get a small bag of popcorn and two slices of pizza, not to mention games, raffles and other spooky activities.

SATURDAY, OCT. 1

Oktoberfest West Sixth NuLu $100/table for a group of 4-10  |  11 a.m. - 1 a.m. Oktoberfest is a holiday best celebrated with friends. It’s possible to go to West Sixth’s celebration of German food and drink on your own (and for free!), but they recommend you get a table for a group. Not to mention, each table also comes with six souvenir beer steins and six 32-oz. fill tickets, plus plenty of snacks (including pretzels, of course.) The day will include games, drinking, a brewery tour (tickets sold separately) and Deutsche merriment.

SATURDAY, OCT. 1-2

Bowman Fest 2022 Bowman Field $20 adult, $50 family, $15 senior/youth  |  10 a.m.-5 p.m. Bowman Fest is celebrating 100 years of Bowman field with a first for the airfield — an aerobatic airshow. The two-day festival starts with an IPA 5K on the runway on Saturday, followed by a CAT3 aerobatic air show that will happen twice a day. There will also be over 35 historic and military planes on display, helicopters and a C130 cargo plane available for walk-throughs.

FRIDAY, OCT. 7-8

Belknap Fall Festival Douglass Loop Free  |  Friday 6-11 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Local food and beer, local artists, local businesses and local musicians (including an Elton John tribute act) — yes, this is a neighborhood festival, technically, but everyone is welcome. Now that festival season is winding down in Louisville, we say this sounds like a fun opportunity to get into the community and enjoy the weather before it gets too cold.

SATURDAY, OCT. 8

Asian Night Market Fourth Street Live! Free  |  6-10 p.m. The Crane House will host its first Asian Night Market at 4th Street Live! The event will feature food from all across Asia, highlighting the cultural significance of that food. There will also be performances, retail booths and food trucks. Food trucks will include: All Thai’d Up, Bamba Eggroll Co., Hot Buns, Louisville Sushi, Aeja’s Kitchen and District 6. Performances will include: Association of Chinese Americans of Kentuckiana, Dusk N Dawn (K-pop), River Lotus Lion Dance, Cultura Philippines and Oreya Ou (Chinese traditional dance and belly dance).

SUNDAY, OCT. 9

Louisville’s Great Chili Cook-Off 2022 NuLu No cover  |  Noon-6 p.m. The Great Chili Cook-O has been taking place in Louisville since 1989 and raising money for charities in the process. Not to mention, it’s delicious. This year, the cook-o is being held in NuLu with live music by Soul Circus. So, head down and sample all of the different styles of chili, grab some drinks and enjoy the day.

THROUGH OCT. 22

‘Life in Light’ By Stephen Brown WheelHouse Art Free  |  Times vary I confess I love realism, especially if the painting is so detailed you think it’s a photograph. So, it is no surprise I’m struck by the work of the late Stephen Brown (1950-2009). His paintings seem to be lit from within. The more than 40 still life, landscape and portrait paintings are being shown at WheelHouse Art for the first time. The gallery is also showing art by Gretchen Treitz.

THROUGH APRIL 30

‘Kentucky Women: Helen LaFrance’ Speed Art Museum Prices and times vary Helen LaFrance lived to be 101. For most of her long life, she documented her Black small town world in Graves County in paintings, quilts and wooden sculptures. The Kentucky folk artist specialized in what she called “memory paintings” similar to the work of Grandma Moses. The Speed’s retrospective of the self-taught artist includes more than 35 pieces, some of which show buildings in Mayfield that were destroyed by last December’s tornado.

THROUGH DEC. 31

‘Just Pushing Paint’ By CJ Fletcher Kentucky Center for African American Heritage Free  |  Times vary CJ Fletcher is an artist who thinks of people, especially children, as she creates. So much so that she “always [strives] to enhance what I do in an effort to make our community a better place to live.” Specializing in paintings and limited-edition prints, her solo exhibition at KCAAH features “work that stimulates man’s spiritual aspirations rather than the intellectual aspect of life,” Fletcher said.

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