Party in the Highlands! Original Highlands Festival adds art and music to the mix

Well, they’ve gone and done it again. The Original Highlands Neighborhood is once again proving that it is the coolest neighborhood ever. You know that neighborhood-wide yard sale your neighborhood did that one time? Or that Fourth of July barbeque? Yeah, those were really awesome, weren’t they? Well, the Highlands Neighborhood decided to have a little arts and music festival instead.

This “little festival,” the second of its kind, has slightly altered its name this year to be a bit more specific about what it’s all about. In other words, last year’s Original Highlands Festival is this year’s Original Highlands Art and Music Festival. Because, as OHNA President John C. Riddick Jr. explained, “That’s really what the emphasis is on: local music and local artists. It’s more or less a showcase.”

So, where your average local neighborhood festival might feature arts and crafts made by old ladies out of normal household items (“A clothespin reindeer? How cute!”), at this festival you might see art that’s vaguely familiar, only to discover the artist has created album art or posters for your favorite Louisville band. Additionally, where you normally might expect to go to a neighborhood festival and hear a few old guys over-enthusiastically banging out some Bill Haley or Buddy Holly covers, here you’re going to find yourself entertained by some of Louisville’s most dynamic local musical acts, including John Gage, Follow the Train, The Merediths, Brigid Kaelin, the Shinerunners and even out-of-town guest (and perennial Louisville favorite) Paul Thorn. And to hammer this point even further home, this festival, rather than serving up baked goods from scout troops and churches, will have food available from many of its sponsors, including Wick’s Pizza, Willy’s and a few of those popular Highlands-area Irish pubs.

So, unless your neighborhood has something better going on this Saturday — say, the members of Kinghorse are re-uniting for your subdivision’s bake sale — then get yourself on over to the Highlands. After all, you probably spend just about as much time over there as you do in your actual neighborhood. And free shows are pretty rare — this many of Louisville’s best musical acts concentrated into one show for free is just unheard of. The OHN may be Louisville’s coolest neighborhood, but at least they’ve invited us to their little festival.

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A little bit down the road from OHN fest, an Italian festival will bring a tiny bit of Italy to Louisville. There will be plenty of Italian food and music and a recreation of an Italian village scene. Stop by for some of the best in Italian culture this side of the Atlantic.

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