Georgetown, KY Announces Plans for Fall Festival of the Horse

Festival chili cook-off, Kentucky Proud dinners and farm fun fill fall calendar.
Photo by: MabelAmber

The 37th Annual Festival of the Horse is set to kick off fall fun in the midst of Kentucky Horse Country. This event celebrating the role of the horse and its heritage takes place in Georgetown and features a chili cook-off and family-friendly activities. Also on the calendar: Seed to Feed dinners held in unique locations in Georgetown and prepared by top chefs from the region, plenty of farm fun and the Oxford Antique Market.

Horsin' around

The 37th Annual Festival of the Horse is a fun-filled weekend that takes place Sept. 8-10 in downtown Georgetown. Live entertainment, art and craft exhibits, local and regional food, parades, horse shows, carnival rides and other family-friendly activities are all part of the festival.

Kicking off the festival is the Toys for Tots Fireman's Chili Cook-Off, held downtown, 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7. Adding to the fun is Georgetown's monthly Party on the Square with live music by the popular Swing Street band from 7-10 p.m.

Farm-fresh fare

Local Feed, a scratch farm-to-table restaurant boasting an ever-growing bourbon list and inventive craft cocktails, presents two Seed to Feed dinners for the fall season, with the spotlight firmly on local farmers' foodstuffs. Part of a dinner series sponsored by Local Feed owner and executive chef Justin Thompson, the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Commission, LM Communications and Kentucky Proud, these Friday night culinary events take place on Sept. 8 and Oct. 6.

During the former, Thompson will be accompanied by Chef Mark Jensen of Lexington's Middle Fork Kitchen Bar for a dinner that will take place at Royal Spring Park. According to legend, this is where Rev. Elijah Craig first pulled water to make his bourbon. The evening features an all-inclusive cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres from 6-7 p.m. followed by a 6-course dinner with beer, wine and cocktails.

The latter brings in Chef Philip Cronin of Succotash in Washington DC to preside with Thompson over cocktail hour and the 6-course dinner. This event takes place at Old Friends Retirement Thoroughbred Farm, a living history museum where horses past their prime live out their lives in dignity.

Disney with cornstalks and hay

Got kids? Bring them to the farms of Georgetown for fresh air and outdoor adventure. The 185-acre Bi Water Farm & Greenhouse, called the "Disney of central Kentucky farms" when fall arrives, hosts more activities than you can shake a gourd at: hay rides, zip lines, petting zoo, miniature golf, paintball, Spooky Farmhouse, a monster pirate ship and a corn maze so awesome, it's the only one in Kentucky sponsored by Culver's. The fun is part of Autumn Fest, this year planned for Sept. 9 through Oct. 31.

Learn how food raised without the use of chemical pesticides reaches your plate on the "From the Ground Up" tours at the 550-acre Elmwood Stock Farm. Head into the garden to check out 40-plus vegetable varieties; see chickens, cows, pigs, turkeys and sheep; and explore wildlife, beneficial insects, bird life and soil life – all of which play a role in the journey.

The 175-acre Evans Orchard & Cider Mill seems like an amusement park, with a jumbo jumper, apple cider slider, Rat Racers Big Wheel track, pedal cart track, swings and tire climbs, hay castle and corn bin, plus a Barn Yard Petting Zoo with goats, pigs, donkeys and sheep.

At the Sweet Apple Café & Bakery, hungry farm visitors can enjoy Nathan's Jumbo Hot Dogs, the farm's own pimento cheese grilled chicken sandwich, homemade fudge and fresh baked pies. Kids get a Souvenir Apple Sipper with each kid's meal. Pick your own fruit: strawberries, blueberries, pears, pumpkins and apples. Shop the gift store, housed in the old tobacco barn and filled with fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables, for homemade fudge and fried pies and an assortment of gifts.

Other activities in Georgetown include tours of Ward Hall, scheduled the first two weekends in September and October; a downtown sidewalk sale on Sept. 16; and the semi-annual Oxford Antique Market, with three dozen antique dealers, also held Sept. 16.

ABOUT GEORGETOWN, KY
The birthplace of bourbon? Possibly. A small town bursting with charm in the midst of Kentucky Horse Country? Definitely. Though not your typical small town, Georgetown is the fastest-growing city in Kentucky and at the epicenter of one of the least known but most disputed claims in the state – that of the true birthplace of bourbon. Other best-kept secrets include the circa 1917 Rosenwald School; Steve Hockensmith Fine Art Gallery; and Heirlooms & Gretchen's, one of Kentucky's only authentic stained glass shops. Major attractions are Kentucky Horse Park; Toyota Motor Manufacturing Tour; Old Friends Retirement Thoroughbred Farm; the official Kentucky-Japan Friendship Garden, Yuko-En on the Elkhorn; and a busy, Victorian-era downtown with architectural charm and locally-owned shops, restaurants and craft breweries and distilleries; Ward Hall, a Greek Revival antebellum plantation mansion; and Whispering Woods Riding Stables. Fresh-air fun is found at four farms offering everything from fruit picking to hands-on tours to a fall festival. Accommodations include unique stays – from a former tavern to a cottage at a retired horse farm – plus two campgrounds and more than a dozen brand name chain hotels. Uncover the secrets of a small town in Georgetown.