Woodford County Kentucky Midway Bourbon and Blues Festival
Midway is a small railroad town in Woodford County, and for one Saturday each June its Main Street fills with grilled food, blues guitar and the slow pour of bourbon from nearby distilleries. The gathering is printed by its organiser as the Midway Bourbon & Blues Festival, with an ampersand joining the two halves of the name, while the county festival list spells the middle word out in full. That difference matters when you search for it, because the posters, the tasting pass page and the vendor papers all carry the ampersand form. The festival began in the summer of 2023 as a two-day opening edition and settled quickly into a single Saturday in early June, running from noon until ten in the evening, rain or shine. Bourbon tastings sit at the centre of the day, offered through a ticketed tasting pass, while live blues carries the music, fine art and handcrafted goods fill the vendor rows, and food stalls feed the crowd between sets. Entry to the street itself is listed at no charge in the organiser’s 2026 event-platform listing, with the tastings as the paid part of the day.
About
The Midway Bourbon & Blues Festival is a street festival built around two things Kentucky does well: bourbon and live blues. It takes over Main Street in downtown Midway, a town whose centre still carries the shape of a railroad settlement, with short blocks, brick storefronts and a walkable main drag that suits a street fair. The organiser describes the setting as sitting in the heart of Francisco’s Farm in downtown Midway, a phrase that points to the farm-and-table character of the town rather than to a separate venue. Everything happens outdoors on the street itself, which gives the day a relaxed, wandering feel within a short stroll. The producer is the Midway Business Association, known in the festival papers by its initials, and the vendor documents name a second body, the Midway Bourbon & Blues Committee, which handles the stallholders and the tasting arrangements. The two names describe different jobs rather than different events, and the record keeps them separate. Its editions have run in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, each one documented on the organiser’s own pages. The first year ran across two days; every year since has been a single Saturday. The day runs from noon until ten in the evening, and the 2026 listing carries the rain-or-shine promise. More than sixty artists and crafters filled the vendor rows in 2025, and the tasting pass remains the festival’s signature feature: a ticketed route through bourbon from local distilleries, with wine and beer tastings alongside it.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Festival | Midway Bourbon & Blues Festival |
| Town | Midway, Woodford County |
| County seat | Versailles |
| Venue | Main Street, downtown Midway |
| Producer | Midway Business Association |
| Vendor body | Midway Bourbon & Blues Committee |
| First edition | June 2023, two days |
| Latest edition | June 2026, rain or shine |
| Hours | Noon until ten in the evening |
| Entry | Listed at no charge in 2026; tastings ticketed |
History
The festival opened in June 2023 with a two-day first edition, Saturday from ten in the morning until six in the evening and Sunday from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon. The organiser-side description of that opening year calls it the inaugural Bourbon & Blues Festival, and the story of the festival starts there, with bourbon tastings and live blues as the twin draws. The second year, June 2024, compressed the event into a single Saturday, from noon until ten in the evening, and introduced the presale tasting pass that has since become the festival’s way of organising its bourbon, wine and beer tastings. The third year, June 2025, kept the same single-Saturday shape and the same hours, and the artist application page for that year records more than sixty artists and crafters among the vendors, a sign that the handcrafted side of the festival had grown alongside the tastings. The fourth year, June 2026, fell on the thirteenth of the month, again from noon until ten in the evening, and its listing carried the rain-or-shine promise that tells visitors the street will be open whatever the sky does. Across those four editions the shape of the day stayed steady: bourbon, blues, handcrafted goods and food stalls. The producer throughout has been the Midway Business Association, with the Midway Bourbon & Blues Committee handling vendor matters, and the venue has stayed on Main Street in downtown Midway. The festival grew by settling into its June Saturday rather than by reinventing itself.
What to Expect
A June Saturday in Midway begins quietly, with vendors setting up along Main Street in the late morning, and by noon the street is open and the music is playing. The bourbon tastings are the centrepiece: local distilleries pour through a ticketed tasting pass, and the pass is the way to work through the range rather than buying by the glass at each table. Wine and beer tastings sit alongside the bourbon. Live blues runs through the day, giving the street its soundtrack, and the music is the thread that holds the afternoon together as the crowd moves between stalls. The vendor rows carry fine art and handcrafted goods, and the 2025 edition counted more than sixty artists and crafters, so the shopping is a real part of the day rather than a handful of tables. Food stalls serve through the afternoon and into the evening, and the day runs until ten in the evening, which gives the evening sets a different mood from the bright midday hours. The festival is outdoors on the street, so shade, water and comfortable shoes matter, and the rain-or-shine billing means a shower will not clear the street. The pace is unhurried: there is no single show to catch, and the day rewards wandering.
Planning Your Visit
Pick the June Saturday from the organiser’s listing and build the day around the noon opening, since the street fills steadily through the afternoon and the evening sets draw the biggest crowds. Midway is a small town, so parking and walking are the practical questions: arrive before noon if you want a short walk to Main Street, and expect to park a few blocks away once the afternoon is underway. The town is not the county seat — Versailles holds that role — so do not look for the festival in the county-seat town; it belongs to Midway itself. Bring a hat and water, because the festival is outdoors and the June sun is strong by mid-afternoon, and wear shoes that suit a day on pavement. If bourbon tasting is your reason for coming, sort the tasting pass out before the day, since the pass is the ticketed route to the distillery pours and the presale arrangement is the one the organiser has used. Entry to the street is listed at no charge in the 2026 listing, so the budget question is really about tastings, food and the vendor rows. The vendor rows reward a slow pass, with the handcrafted goods changing from stall to stall. The day runs until ten in the evening, so plan the drive home after dark, and check the organiser’s listing nearer the date for the exact Saturday.
For a useful comparison, see the Woodford County Kentucky Midway Fall Festival for another county festival.
A Sample Itinerary
Arrive in Midway before noon and walk Main Street end to end while the vendors are still setting out their goods, getting a sense of the layout before the crowds arrive. At noon, when the festival opens, make the tasting pass your first stop if you hold one, working through the local distillery pours while the lines are short and the tables are calm. Spend the early afternoon among the vendor rows, where fine art and handcrafted goods fill the stalls, and pause for lunch from a food stall once you have seen the full stretch. In the mid-afternoon, settle near the music for a set or two, letting the blues carry the hottest part of the day while you rest your feet. As the light softens in the early evening, take a second pass along Main Street for anything you meant to buy, then find a spot for the evening music as the street fills again. Stay until the ten o’clock close if you can, since the evening sets are the festival’s best hours, and leave yourself time for the walk back to the car after dark.
How It Compares
Midway holds more than one street gathering through the year, and the Bourbon & Blues Festival is distinct from its neighbours. The Midway Fall Festival is a separate autumn event in the same town, with its own season and its own billing, and the Midway Block Party is another separate Midway gathering — neither one is part of this June festival, and the record keeps them apart. Compared with those two, the Bourbon & Blues Festival is the one built around tastings: bourbon from local distilleries, poured through a ticketed pass, is the feature the other Midway events do not share. It is also the most music-led of the three, with live blues as its running soundtrack rather than a side attraction. Against the wider run of Kentucky bourbon events, it is a small-town street festival rather than a distillery tour: entry to the street is listed at no charge, and the day is built for wandering rather than for queuing at a gate. That scale is its character — a June Saturday in a railroad town, with blues, bourbon and handcrafted goods sharing one short stretch of pavement.
Checklist
- A hat and water for a June day outdoors
- Comfortable shoes for a day on pavement
- A tasting pass sorted before the day, if you plan to taste bourbon
- Cash and a card for food and vendor stalls
- A bag for handcrafted goods you buy along the way
- A light layer for the evening, when the music runs late
- A plan for the drive home after ten in the evening
Beyond the Festival
Midway itself rewards a slow look before or after the festival hours. The town is a railroad settlement, and its short blocks and brick storefronts are worth a walk on their own, with the kind of small-town main street that has mostly vanished from bigger places. Woodford County is horse country, and the drives around Midway run past farms and fences that explain why the organiser ties the festival to the farm character of the town. Versailles, the county seat, sits a short drive away and holds the county courthouse and the town centre that Midway, as a smaller town, does not. The bourbon country around Woodford County is dense with distilleries, and the local distilleries that pour at the festival belong to that wider landscape. A visitor who stays for the weekend can spend the next day driving the farm roads and walking the Midway streets again at a quieter pace.
Why It Matters
A festival like this one matters because it gives a small town a day when its main street is the centre of the county’s attention. Midway is not the county seat and it is not a large place, yet for one June Saturday its street holds bourbon from local distilleries, blues on the stage and more than sixty artists and crafters in the vendor rows — a scale of gathering that a town of its size does not get every week. The producer, the Midway Business Association, is a town body, and the vendor committee that works alongside it is a festival body, so the day is organised by the town itself rather than brought in from outside. The money spent at the stalls, the tastings poured by nearby distilleries and the music played on a Midway street all stay close to home. The festival also gives Woodford County a bourbon and blues date distinct from the larger bourbon events elsewhere in Kentucky. Four editions in, from the two-day opening in 2023 to the rain-or-shine Saturday of 2026, it has become a fixed part of the town’s year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I taste bourbon without buying a tasting pass?
The bourbon tastings are organised through a ticketed tasting pass, and the organiser’s pages present the pass as the way to work through the local distillery pours. Entry to the street is listed at no charge in the 2026 listing, so you can enjoy the music, the vendors and the food without a pass.
What should I pack for a day on Main Street?
A hat and water first, since the festival is outdoors in June and the sun is strong by mid-afternoon. Comfortable shoes matter because the day is spent on pavement, and a bag helps for the handcrafted goods in the vendor rows. A light layer is worth carrying for the evening, when the music runs until ten.
Does the festival go ahead if it rains?
Yes. The 2026 listing carries the festival as rain or shine, and the day runs from noon until ten in the evening whatever the sky does. Bring a light waterproof layer and shoes that cope with wet pavement, and expect the street to stay open through a shower.
Does Midway serve as Woodford County’s seat?
No. Versailles is the county seat, and Midway is a smaller town in the same county. The festival belongs to Midway itself, on Main Street in downtown Midway, so plan your travel to Midway rather than to the county-seat town.
What to Expect From the Next Woodford County Kentucky Midway Bourbon and Blues Festival
How often is Woodford County Kentucky Midway Bourbon and Blues Festival held?
The published record shows one edition each June, with a single Saturday in 2024, 2025 and 2026 after a two-day opening in 2023. The organiser’s listings treat it as a June fixture, and each edition so far has fallen in the first half of the month.
When is the next Woodford County Kentucky Midway Bourbon and Blues Festival?
The next edition to look for is the June Saturday that follows the 2026 edition, which fell on the thirteenth of June that year. The organiser’s listing nearer the date will carry the exact Saturday, since the June date moves from year to year.
Will the dates change?
The June Saturday has moved from year to year — the eighth in 2024, the seventh in 2025 and the thirteenth in 2026 — so the exact date is worth checking on the organiser’s listing before you travel. The month and the single-Saturday shape have stayed steady.
The Midway Bourbon & Blues Festival is a small-town June Saturday done well: bourbon from local distilleries, live blues, fine art and handcrafted goods, and a Main Street that belongs to the crowd for the day. Come for the tastings, stay for the music, and leave with a sense of a town that knows how to hold a festival.
