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The region’s premier vintage motorcycle festival is expanding and moving from Barret Avenue to Turners Louisville, a 13-acre historic riverfront complex located at 3125 River Road. The 6th annual Kentucky Kick Down will be held September 14-16, 2018 and feature hundreds of vintage bikes, as well as live music, food trucks, swimming, bowling, and vendors. For the first time, on-site camping and parking will be offered. Admission is $5 per day, and parking is $10 per day. Kids 12 and under are free. Discounted weekend pricing is also available. Camping fees range from $65 for the baseball field to $100 for riverside.

Ever since this event was launched 5 years ago, I’ve dreamed of expanding it to become a true festival – still revolving around a vintage motorcycle show, but elevating the celebration and good times,” says event Founder and Producer Scott Halbleib. “The move to Turners Louisville will allow us to present more music, more activities, and more reasons for people to travel from all over the country to experience how Kentucky likes to get down at the Kick Down.

Moto enthusiasts will enjoy the variety of vintage bikes on display, burn out pits, stunt shows, and mud drags. Other festival highlights will include a charity ride to benefit Home of the Innocents, the Miss Kentucky Kick Down Contest, a VIP area, and a camp-in movie.

Kentucky Kick Down’s vintage motorcycle show is open to all makes of bikes that are twenty-five years and older. Registration is $25 in advance and $30 the day of the show. Awards are given in twelve categories and are based on judge’s discretion.

The mission of the Kentucky Kick Down is to gather two-wheeled enthusiasts and welcome all walks of motorcycles to Louisville to celebrate bike culture. The event is supported by Louisville Vintage Motorworks, a group of more than 2,500 members that strives to keep the vintage motorcycle culture and machines rolling.

The 2018 Kentucky Kick Down is sponsored by Royal Enfield, Jack Daniels, J&P Cycles, Cycle Source, Harley-Davidson, Chop Cult, Lowbrow Customs and TC Bros.

For more information, visit www.kentuckykickdown.com.

Last Day For NFMS

LouisvilleDispatch_NFMS17_0841Today is the last day for the annual National Farm Machinery Show.  Visitors will have one final chance to see the newest and most advance equipment for all their agricultural needs before they are gone from the Kentucky Exposition Center.  Whether you are large commercial farmer or a home gardener, there will be something of interest for everyone.  With over 800 exhibitors, a crafts and gift market, and the Championship Tractor Pull, the event is expecting up to 300,000 attendees throughout the course of the show.

The final day of Championship Tractor Pull will feature two events including the 1:00 PM matinée and the 7:30 PM championship finals.  Each event is expected to last approximately three hours.  Drivers in the afternoon competition will test their machines in the classes for 7,500lb. 4×4 Super Stock Diesel Trucks, 6,400lb. Lightweight Super Stock Alcohol Tractors, and 10,200lb. Pro Stock Tractors.  The evening heats include Modified Tractors, Super Farm Tractors, 2WD Super Modified Trucks, Super Stock and Alcohol Tractors, and the massive 10,200lb. Pro Stock Tractor class.

Last night, visitors were treated to a down-to-the-wire performance as three Pro Stock tractors made a full pull of the weight sled to result in a head to head pull-off to determine the winner.  The competition is exciting and the event is loud so be sure to bring your ear protection.  This is a separate event from the admission-free Farm Machinery Show and tickets must be purchased ahead of time.  Pricing starts at $20 for the afternoon event and $25 for the evening event.  As with most events at the KY Exposition Center, parking is $8 per car.  Do not miss out on one of larger shows that comes Louisville.

Don’t Miss the Nation’s Largest Indoor Farm Show, Gift & Craft Craft Market, and Championship Tractor Pull Finals

LouisvilleDispatch_NFMS17_0594The 52nd annual National Farm Machinery Show at the Kentucky Expo Center is more than two days in, but visitors still have time to get in on the action.

With nearly 900 vendors in the farm show exhibit area and the Gift & Craft Market, the event is not just for those in the commercial agriculture industry.  Everyone from home gardeners to country craft lovers will find something to spark their interest, from free seminars to face-time with vendors to the excitement of truck and tractor pulling competitions.

While the NFMS itself is free to attend and open to the public, the associated Championship Tractor Pull events each night, with an afternoon matinee on Saturday, require reserved seat tickets, which start at $20.  Fans will be treated to thundering excitement as drivers compete in ten weight-based divisions as they try to drag weighted sleds down the full length of the dirt track.  If two or more drivers in a division succeed in making a “full pull,” more weight is added and they try again and the driver who pulls the sled farthest wins.

LouisvilleDispatch_NFMS17_0713The tense – and LOUD – competition isn’t just for bragging rights, either.  Competitors are vying for a piece of a quarter-million dollar purse.  Don’t forget your ear plugs!

Fans wanting to check out the powerful machines before they roar into the arena can visit the pit area in Broadbent Arena, where they can get up close and personal with the trucks and tractors and trucks and meet drivers for photos and autographs.  The pit area is open today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 to 11 a.m.

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Just one week from today, the 52nd National Farm Machinery Show is returning to Louisville and brining with it the 49th annual Championship Tractor Pull.

The event, hosted at the Kentucky Exposition Center at 937 Phillips Lane, runs from Wednesday, February 15, through Saturday, the 18th.  KY Expo Center parking is $8 with admission to the Farm Machinery Show free and open to the public.  Tickets for the Championship Tractor Pull are available through Ticket Master starting at $20.

The National Farm Machinery Show is the nation’s largest indoor farm show, featuring nearly 900 exhibitors, offers the most complete selection of cutting-edge agricultural products, equipment and services available in the farming industry.  In addition to seeing the industry’s newest products , visitors can attend free seminars from experts on topics including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), data handling, weather and commodity trends, and marketing.

Tyne Morgan and Al Pell will also be performing a live-taping of “U.S. Farm Report” during the show that visitors can stop by and watch.  The show also features more than 80 vendors in the Gift & Craft Market in the South Wing Mezzanine, offering something for everyone.

Championship Tractor Pull

ChampionshipTractorPullFormer champions and a record-breaking number of women drivers will compete for a share of the $250,000 purse in 2017 at the 49th annual Championship Tractor Pull.

2016 champions including Terry Blackbourn, Steve Bunnage, and Mendi Nelson, among others are returning to try to keep their titles.  The 2017 competition will also break last year’s record for women competitors as Anna Belle Bradley, Ashley Corzine, Julia Ray, and Kentucky’s own Monica Shaw and Lisa Tatum, along with many other female pullers enter the arena.

Over 70,000 fans are expected to attend the competition, which will include several new categories such as the 6,350 Modified 4×4 Truck and 9,500 Limited Pro Stock Tractor classes.

If you like the roar of Pro Stocks, Super Stocks, Modified, and Alcohol Tractors as well as two- and four-wheel drive trucks battling it out in the dirt, don’t miss the excitement every night of the 2017 National Farm Machinery Show in Freedom Hall.

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