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6 ways to celebrate the holidays in Louisville, Kentucky

Dealers from more than 20 states display their wares at the Louisville Christmas Gift and Decor Show, one of the country’s largest free-admission Christmas shows. Dealers from more than 20 states display their wares at the Louisville Christmas Gift and Decor Show, one of the country’s largest free-admission Christmas shows. | Photo courtesy Kentucky Venues

Horse racing and bourbon come to mind quite naturally at the mention of Louisville. Kentucky’s largest city is home to the Kentucky Derby, the country’s most famous equestrian event, and more bourbon distilleries than anyplace else in the world.

While there’s always something going on in Louisville, locals pull out all the stops during the winter holiday season. Here are some of the special ways to celebrate the holidays.

1. Lights Under Louisville

Light Under Louisville, Kentucky

Lights Under Louisville might be the only place in the world to offer the “otherworldly” experience of driving through subterranean passages surrounded by displays made from millions of lights. | Photo courtesy Louisville Tourism

Ten stories beneath the Louisville Zoo, the Louisville Mega Cavern, a former limestone quarry with more than 4 million square feet of underground space, houses year-round attractions such as an aerial ropes challenge course, zip lines, and a massive bike park.

Beginning mid-November, Lights Under Louisville transforms the cavern into a winter wonderland—visually, that is—while the cavern’s temperature remains at a constant 58 degrees. Visitors drive their own vehicles on a 30-minute trip through 17 miles of underground passages lined with more than 40 themed displays, about 850 illuminated characters, and approximately 3 million points of light. Contemporary family favorites such as Toy Story characters have been part of past shows.

Dates: November 12, 2021–January 2, 2022.

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2. Winter Illuminations

Tunnels of lights are some of the mesmerizing features found on Winter Illuminations’ nightly walking tour.

Tunnels of lights are some of the mesmerizing features found on Winter Illuminations’ nightly walking tour. | Photo courtesy Winter Illuminations

When the sun goes down in Louisville, the Winter Illuminations trail walk offers a chance to bundle up and work off that holiday meal.

More than 100,000 lights are synchronized to instrumental holiday music along a 1-mile trail through The Parklands of Floyds Fork in Beckley Creek Park, one of Louisville’s prime natural areas. About a dozen stations incorporating nature and music into dazzling light shows are spaced along the partly paved crushed limestone path. The one-way, socially distanced stroll through tunnels of light past creative displays and along a lane of twinkling Christmas trees takes about an hour.

Dates: November 19, 2021–January 2, 2022.

3. Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour

During the Historic Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour, visitors are invited into mansions to enjoy decorations like this elaborate dining room scene.

During the Historic Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour, visitors are invited into mansions to enjoy decorations like this elaborate dining room scene. | Photo courtesy Old Louisville Neighborhood Council]

While Old Louisville is not the city’s oldest neighborhood, it is among the most special, with one of the nation’s highest concentrations of restored Victorian-style mansions. Now in its 44th year, the Historic Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour features homes in the two-block area between St. James Court, with its iconic gas lanterns, and South Fourth Street.

At each stop, visitors learn the house’s history and then are invited to browse and enjoy its holiday decor. The tour price includes a bourbon tasting at the Louisville Bourbon Inn and shopping at the adjacent Woman’s Club of Louisville’s boutique. (Be sure to designate a driver if you plan to drink alcohol.) The home tour can be combined with a Victorian tea at the Conrad–Caldwell House Museum, known for its elaborate woodwork and stained glass windows.

Dates: December 4–5, 2021.

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4. Paristown’s Fête De Noël

The ice rink in Christy’s Garden is popular during Paristown’s annual Fête de Noël, when the entire neighborhood becomes a festive pedestrian village.

The ice rink in Christy’s Garden is popular during Paristown’s annual Fête de Noël, when the entire neighborhood becomes a festive pedestrian village. | Photo courtesy of Paristown

In recent years, Louisville’s Paristown neighborhood has become a pedestrian-friendly district with brick-paved Brent Street fronting a mix of entertainment venues and Louisville favorites such as The Café and Stoneware and Company, a historic ceramics workshop. Paristown Hall, a performing arts and music center for standing-room audiences of 2,000, opened in 2019, adjacent to Christy’s Garden, which has an outdoor bar, a concession stand, and an amphitheater where holiday movies are projected onto a giant screen.

During Paristown’s six-week winter festival, Fête De Noël (Festival of Christmas), the garden is home to an ice-skating rink where nearly 200 skaters can twirl and glide socially distanced. New to the winter village experience this year is the Paristown Express, a trackless train; Santa’s Workshop; and the Brent Street Holiday Market.

Dates: November 26, 2021–January 2, 2022. Santa’s Workshop and the market close after Christmas Eve.

5. ‘IgLou’ rooftop dining

“Diamonds and Fur” is the theme for one of six heated “IgLous” where patrons can dine at the rooftop 8Up Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen. | Photo courtesy 8Up Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen

“Diamonds and Fur” is the theme for one of six heated “IgLous” where patrons can dine at the rooftop 8Up Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen. | Photo courtesy 8Up Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen

With its panoramic view of downtown Louisville, 8Up Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen, the eighth-floor rooftop bar of the Hilton Garden Inn, has always been a popular summer watering hole, but now it’s also busy in winter.

Diners escape the chill in eight clear heated “IgLous” (only in Louisville!), each with a unique theme and room for eight friends in cozy comfort. Management is unveiling new themes this year but is reprising the popular “Diamonds and Fur” IgLou, elegantly furnished in satin and fur with crystal decorations.

Table service comes from the restaurant’s open kitchen and from the bar, which specializes in creative drinks. During the holidays, a snow machine adds to the atmosphere.

Dates: Mid-October through March.

You may also like: Great free things to do in Western Kentucky

6. Louisville Christmas Gift and Decor Show

More than 750 booths displaying Christmas decorations, furnishings, food, and gifts create a cheery vibe in the Kentucky Exposition Center during the Louisville Christmas Gift and Decor Show.

More than 750 booths displaying Christmas decorations, furnishings, food, and gifts create a cheery vibe in the Kentucky Exposition Center during the Louisville Christmas Gift and Decor Show. | Photo courtesy Kentucky Venues

A tradition for more than 30 years at Louisville’s massive Kentucky Exposition Center, the free Louisville Christmas Gift and Decor Show attracts thousands of shoppers, drawn by the decorations, food, and entertainment. It can take more than a day to browse the more than 750 booths.

The selection of ornaments, wreaths, signs, and decorations is more than enough to make any home a holiday showcase. Shoppers can find a gift for even the fussiest relative or special friend among the crafts, jewelry, art, clothes, bath and body products, toys, and food items—including a dizzying array of cakes, cookies, pies, and preserved goods. Santa is on hand, too, ready to pose with every child for a free photo.

Dates: December 10–12, 2021.

No matter what the season, there are always things to do in Louisville. First-time visitors can get into the city's spirit by touring the highly interactive Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs.

Also visit the “interactive” Urban Bourbon Trail, a cluster of more than 40 restaurants and bars offering more than 60 varieties of bourbon and bourbon-infused dishes. Local cuisine includes the Hot Brown, an open-faced sandwich with turkey, tomatoes, bacon, and Mornay sauce; Burgoo, a chicken, beef, and pork stew; and Benedictine spread, made with cucumbers and cream cheese.

For baseball fans, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, where many professional bats are made, is a must-see.

Boxing afficionados will enjoy the museum and events at the Muhammad Ali Center, founded by the city’s famous son.

West Virginia resident Dale Ann Leatherman is a past president of the Society of American Travel Writers.

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