Year 10 of the NuLu Festival was like an anniversary and birthday party rolled into one, as organizers welcomed visitors to “the hottest growing business district in town.”
More than 150 local and regional vendors displayed food, drinks, arts and crafts along East Market Street for the free event, which kicked off at 11 a.m.
The 2018 festival had specialty cocktails from Coopers’ Craft Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Deep Eddy Vodka.
Plenty of craft beer was also on hand for attendees.
The neighborhood fete boasts lots of live music, with a lineup of local favorites that spanned from 3-11 p.m.
The main stage, set up in the Green Building parking lot, featured Evan & Vanessa, Comforter, Bendigo Fletcher, Shake Anderson & His All-Stars, Zach Longoria Project, Scott T. Smith with Ben Sollee and James Lindsey.
At around 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, NuLu Festival planner Candace Jaworski said attendance for the 2018 festival was already over 40,000 people.
“The stage is just now getting hot with some top notch acts,” Jaworski said.
NuLu, also referred to as the East Market District, is known for its art galleries, shops, specialty stores and an ever-growing number of upscale locally-owned restaurants.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since four or five of us had the idea to close a block of East Market to have a little street festival,” said Rick Murphy, President of the NuLu Business Association said in a statement. “Now we’re expecting over 30,000 visitors to shop, eat, drink and play at our retailers, bars, booths and kids’ area. It’s pretty incredible.”
This year, the festival is three blocks long, in the 600, 700 and 800 blocks of East Market Street.
NULU Fest runs until 11:00 p.m.
NuLu Festival schedule:
3 p.m. – Evan & Vanessa
4 p.m. – Comforter
5 p.m. – Bendigo Fletcher
6 p.m. – Shake Anderson & His All-Stars
8 p.m. – Zach Longoria Project
9 p.m. – Scott T. Smith with Ben Sollee
10 p.m. – James Lindsey
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