Buy local fair is an annual city of Lousiville fair that is filled full of local only merchants and there businesses that range from retail to food trucks. Takes place at the scenic and spacious Lousiville water tower park just off the banks of the Ohio river. Me and my family made the trip to Thai fair in 2021. The merchants are setup in a large rectangle and towards the back they have an area for the food trucks and drinks. So basically a built in food court. The fair did a great job getting representation from unique local places. I pride myself on trying to shop or eat locally but majority of these places I was not familiar with. Which makes a thing like a buy local fair successful. It gets there businesses out there where they can build up a larger clientele base. We had a good time walking and shopping around and the water tower park made for a great host. The event is free but parking Day of was $8 ($6 if you prepaid). However if you wanted to you could of parked off site and got in for free. It was extremely hot and I wasn't about that life with 4 kids. So they can have my $8. Overall this fair is an amazing and wonderful idea. Supporting local is instrumental in keeping communities thriving. I look forward to attending this event in future years as well now that I have participated in one. read more

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Welcome back Buy Local Fair! We missed the option to visit you last year due to Covid. This year the team did a fantastic job selling parking passes in advance, parking cars and spacing out vendors. It offered plenty of space to walk around and view booths, but not be on top of other visitors. Each year you'll find local artists and vendors, some familiar to the year prior and others new. The food trucks are a big win. Everyone will find something to eat or drink. We enjoyed Bamba's Egg Rolls (beef lumpia) and ValuMarket (hot dogs and chips). We also found Heine Bros cold brew, sodas and cocktails. We walked away with several items - earrings, t-shirts and beer syrup. Plus we met several others and have plans to visit or work with them on future projects. Do wear your sunscreen. There's no shade cover at the water tower and it can be brutal. Parking was $6/advance or $8/at event. read more

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This was a perfect day to get out and enjoy local vendors of Louisville. The weather was perfect for high made the day even more Special. Walking in you can smell the BBQ, hear the grooving sounds and see tons of people walking around enjoying the many tents with local vendors. It's a feast for the eyes. read more

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The Buy local fair is something I look forward to every year! Lots of local businesses in Louisville have booths and usually have free items for giveaway! Spin some wheels, sample some BBQ, and try some new drinks- like the Crowler of margarita that was so surprisingly delish for a canned marg! Lots of things you maybe would not have tried or seen in Louisville are out there waiting to be explored! It's always a great time. #louadventurechallenge read more

Buy Local Fair - The best canned margarita I've ever had...... - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

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If you like supporting local businesses and perusing handmade arts and crafts and just, like, really cool shiz...you are gonna want to pay the annual Buy Local Fair a visit! I love shopping, mostly just with my eyes and touching things and not with my wallet (ya girl is on a budget, y'all!) but every year there are some really great things. Live music and food trucks galore, you can't go wrong. And you will almost certainly run into several friends, should you decide to attend alone! I swear...everyone in town stops by at some point during the day! The only downsides, just so you're prepares: -It's just always so HOT. And Water Tower Park has NO SHADE! Stay hydrated, bring a fan and a parasol. Pretend you are so fancy you can hardly stand yourself! -You have to pay for parking. As a professed Frugalista, I haaaaaate this aspect. So....I am not above carpooling with friends. Or parking up the road at one of the nearby parks and walking my butt up there. But again....it is hot as Hades. -That is really it. Be prepared, have fun, stay hydrated! read more

We went for some fun and we got it plus some yummy dip! Lol It was a beautiful day at the water tower and everyone was out to enjoy it with us. Parking was a bit crazy but to be expected. More booths than you could wave a Yelp Fan at! If you can't find something here to buy then your just too picky. We will certainly go again. read more

Buy Local Fair - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

This is such a great place to learn about community services and small businesses! LIBA does such a great job keeping Louisville weird! I was there today as Yelp Elite, go a great sampling of products, and made some plans for Christmas gifts. I also found d out I can buy a compost bin from the city. There were quite a few food trucks and plenty of craft beer. I liked that you could pay for parking in advance and save some money. Things were nicely spaced out to allow for social distancing. I would have loved to stay longer, but it was so hot. It's a family-friendly event, and my son loves the free pens and stickers he can get as I learn about small businesses in the area. read more

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Out of all the festivals(vendor oriented) in Louisville, this is one of my favorites for sure. Local businesses galore! Art, crafts, food trucks, ice cream, bourbon, beer, wine, chef battles, the water tower, live music, bike parking, & a 'back porch' area to get away for a view of the river. There really isn't a reason for you to not have fun at this festival. I was excited to go & planned to make a day of it. We arrived & picked up something to eat from one of the food trucks first (Pollo -- Review incoming soon). After eating, we started looking in the booths before finding dessert (SnoWhat - New Orleans Shaved Ice). Next we looked around some more & bought a few things before heading over to the first chef battle. While waiting on the first chef battle (Iron Shroom), we were next to the stage of live music. It was a great way to pass the time. As the battle wrapped up, the rain was approaching. Luckily we made it to our car & didn't get drenched! After the rain, we decided to eat at a different food truck(Withheld Name because review is incoming & I'm not a fan after a few tries). To finish up the day, we had what? SnoWhat! Again! Life is so hard! SnoWhat is so good! We finished looking at the booths while eating our SnoWhat! We hoped to see the 2nd chef battle, but it didn't start as scheduled: 4PM. I assumed that they may have cancelled it since the rain/storm blew through. They also dismantled the stage earlier than expected. I think one of the many reasons I love this festival is because most of the vendors are hands-off. I like chatting with people, but sometimes I just want to browse. This festival is also a great place to run into people & business owners that you know. There are many great people doing great things in & around Louisville. This festival highlights that! read more

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Such a great event. So many amazing business from all over the city! Great beer, food, and amazing products. Everyone at the booths were so nice and informative on their products and where they are sourced from. read more

Buy Local Fair - Great beer from apocalypse brewing! Such a fun event. Buy local!! - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

17/100 - 2018 Yelp Review Challenge Buy Local THE GOOD - It's great to see all of these local shops. I have never been to the water tower, so that was cool too. There were a lot of cool shops there, and there was even a yelp stand. There was a photo challenge thing which I thought was cool. THE BAD - It was hella hot today not their fault but dannnggg it was hot. OVERALL - I would love to come back next year especially if the weather is better / cooler. read more

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This event offered a great opportunity to get out learn about local businesses, as well as revel in the beauty of a sunny spring day. There were so many local businesses represented, including artisans, garden shops, services, and food vendors. Water Tower Park offers peaceful views of the Ohio River, which we took advantage of while we cooled off in the shade while listening to the live music. As an additional perk, Yelp sponsored a photo contest, which further encouraged me to visit the booths of the participating businesses. My only wish is that the food trucks offered more vegetarian options - sometimes a girl needs more than just french fries. read more

The Buy Local Fair is a fantastic outdoor fair that is put on every year by the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA). The Fair is an opportunity for local business, vendors, and craftsman to showcase their wares. The fair also features a multitude of food vendors and LIBA sells beer, bourbon and brandy which you can buy with tickets. There are live bands and a cooking competition. This year they also had the always fantastic Turner's circus performing. It's always amazing to see the variety of business fellow louisvillians are running. They not only sell great products and services, but 55 dollars out every hundred you spend stays in the local community, compared to only 14 dollars that stays here in Louisville when you buy at a national retailer or big box store. This is money that supports local business, creates jobs, and most important helps your friends and neighbors. This event is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, enjoy some live music and help your local community. Highly recommended. read more

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If you haven't been you should go!!! This fair was really cool event, so much fun, so many things to see and do!! They have this event down to a science from parking to the fair setup and lounge areas. The fair included drink and food competition. Kids entrepreneurs and so much more! They had the parking down and the layout of the fair worked so great that I was able to see everything. There was a dining tent was great, there were tables and chairs to rest your feet and cool down a bit and enjoy the many food trucks. The food truck aisle was awesome. The setup was easy to see the lines and the different foods that were available. The vendors were the best part!! From gardening to social awareness group and authors. I literally learned so much and got to see what these what the vendors do and the products and services they offer. I can't wait for next year to get to experience more of the foods and demonstrations!! read more

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The fair was enjoyable. Fun things to eat and do. It was extremely hot and sunny, so after an hour and a half, we were ready to go. A suggestion for next time is to provide some shade tents with chairs. The fair centers around local venders selling their wares and services. I strongly urge people to support events like this one, as buying local creates a significant impact on local economies. If you have never researched it, investigate the subject online. You'll be shocked how incredible the impact can be. read more

Buy Local Fair - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

I so enjoyed myself today at the Buy Local fair! Louisville water was there with $2 water bottles and free water fill ups - perfect for this hot summer day. Tons of vendors, wide variety of local businesses. Lots of food options too!! My favorite was at Rainbow Blossom's booth, where I spun the wheel and got some awesome free swag. Also found a most perfect dress for an upcoming wedding I'm attending from a local boutique (Scarlet & Olivia) that I can't wait to purchase from them online. Other booths included plants, consignment clothing, home decor, local organizations, organic soaps/lotions/etc....on and on! Great day out supporting local businesses. read more

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Lots of fun and plenty to see! It was INSANELY hot this year, but it didn't slow anyone down a bit. So much to eat, so much to buy, definitely one of the best local fairs around! Such a great setting too. read more

Buy Local Fair - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

Nice day out. Unfortunately the location of the water tower has NO shade and it was hot. The vendors were a nice mix of food beverage and crafts. Food tends to be pretty expensive (9.75) for a wrap. However the 502 Winery had sample of 4 wines for $1! I will definitely come back if only for the view and the people watching! read more

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What a beautiful day it was yesterday for this cool event. I am proud to be from Louisville and always happy when I buy local and give back to my community. The Buy Local Fair is held at the Water Tower on River Road. I can't imagine a better location. A gorgeous building on the river, lots of parking space and plenty of room for vendors. There are local artists, florists, fitness instructors, food trucks, beer, bourbon and wine. I loved doing wine tastings from Old 502, Forrest Edge, Horseshoe Bend and Smith-Berry wineries. Of course, I couldn't pass up a BBC beer and Pollo food truck. Several vendors had fun games to win a prize, which is always a nice touch. Nantz and Kraft florists gave away free flowers too! I enjoyed walking around in the sun with my bright yellow flowers in hand. The only down side was that we were not expecting to pay $5 to park. Not a big deal- just a little surprising. A great event though! read more

Great event showcasing AMAZING local business and craftsmen! And finally a sunny day! The weather man must have known that the Buy Local Fair was happening and put a stop to the rain. After parking (which the attendants were quick in getting the lines of cars in), I checked out the rows of vendors. It had rained on and off all week so it was that the vendors, or LIBA people put down straw or plywood in the needed places so we weren't clomping through mud. The food area had great options as well including MY FAVORITE thing in Louisville, SNOWHAT Snowballs! The live music was great, I was able to catch some of a bluegrass band set. Sunny day, friends, music, relax on on the riverfront, Snowball in hand, it was a great way to spend a Saturday and I look forward to next year! read more

We enjoy going to the various festivals throughout Kentuckiana but this one is extra special since it brings together so many local businesses and vendors. It's nice to find out about a business that you may not have otherwise known existed! Nicer still to know your $ is going back into the community and will help keep local shops alive and thriving. This would be a great opportunity to market your business too. As always with festivals; Free stuff!!! read more

Buy Local Fair - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

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The support of local businesses in Louisville is the best outreach and unification of a community of nearly any city in the U.S. This large festival proves it, and there was still hundreds of LIBA members that didn't even get booths at this event. $5 to park, but free bicycle valet, which strengthens the support for a bicycle friendly city. I've grown to love this free bicycle parking at events around town. Saves me a bunch of time, money, and hassle. Vendors galore, if there's something you want/need. There's a local business that will go above and beyond the call to provide you, the customer, with an excellent product or service. The food truck row is incredible -- there's food truck festivals all throughout the year, and the competition between the trucks in the city is impressive, constantly improving their culinary masterpieces. I always meet upstanding citizens here, who love this city, like I have learned to do. The weather made things...interesting. A freakin monsoon wreaked havoc mid way through the day. I was lucky enough to make it to a friend's car in time safely to stay dry and watch a chaotic wind storm whip through. Shoutout to the mushroom guy...I hope your subliminal messaging got you the hookup for the shrooms you wee looking for. I bet it was one hilarious trip watching tents fly around in the wind on some dope psychedelics. read more

Buy Local Fair - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

This is absolutely my favorite of the festivals that are held in Louisville each year. Every time I go I discover new local restaurants, vendors, activities, etc. I especially value the opportunity to support the very new new local businesses who don't yet have storefronts. This year (2015) the Fair seemed to be twice as big as it was in 2014 and took nearly the whole day to visit all of the booths. However, while the event was overall amazing, mid-day a really nasty storm with extremely strong winds and heavy rain blew in. The obvious place to take cover was the Water Tower. Even though the Water Tower was open for the fair, the Water Tower staff stopped the fair patrons at the door and said that we could only enter the Water Tower if we paid $2 for a tour, and that if we were trying to seek safety from the storm we should do that in our car. At that time they weren't even actually offering tours of the tower because of the lightening and many many people had ridden their bikes to the fair and didn't have cars to seek shelter in (the fair had been advertising free bicycle parking but $5 admission for cars). My friend and I paid the $2 each to enter the Water Tower and found ourselves in a HUGE empty room that appeared large enough to house most of the people who were stuck out in the storm. As the storm blew in we could literally hear people, including children, screaming just outside of the windows and watched as tents, giant potted plants, etc were blown over and broken. The opportunistic behavior of the Water Tower Museum was absolutely appalling and showed a total disregard for the safety of the Buy Local Fair patrons. Equally disappointing is the fact that the Buy Local Fair staff didn't have a pre-arranged plan with the Water Tower Museum to allow for patrons to enter the building in the case of inclement weather. This is a really amazing event. In order to keep it amazing I hope that the Buy Local Fair considers finding a venue that actually cares about the safety of the attendees. read more

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This was a lot of fun! Art, goods, food, beer, wine, and jewelry. What's not to love? It's a great way to give back to our local businesses. It's up to us to keep our small businesses open and keep Louisville weird! The only reason I gave them four stars instead of five. Is bc a huge thunder storm came and blew some rents away. It was a little scary but it sure lo ones things up! Make sure to go next year, food was great and so were the people. read more

As a fan of anything local, this is an incredible event! To be able to find so much local art, crafts, foods, and especially honey from various farms from around the region is great. I just wish they had this event more often! One of my favorite booths (after the Yelp booth of course!) was the man who makes bourbon bottle lamps! He will even take a bottle you already have (my wife and I have a couple from our wedding) and make lamps out of them. read more

Get here now! Great local booths, on the river, food trucks, and back porch bar. read more

Buy Local Fair - Marketing Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

Sooo much fun! Thanks for heads up on event! So many booths and opportunities to buy local. Keep Louisville weird!

I love companies gn to this every year. I like shopping local. I like the vendors , live music and food trucks. It was a little hot this year so I didn't stay as long as normal ,but you can't control the weather. read more

Great event - many local businesses that might otherwise go undiscovered. Kid friendly and freebies galore. Food truck choices were amazing and the choices offered much variety for my ala carte group. Craft beer needed a few more vendors but good selection of local favorites. Will definitely go again read more

Awesome event featuring local vendors, music and food. We had gorgeous weather this year, which only made the experience better. My only complaint would be that I would love to see more veg/vegan food options available. Yeah they had little cheezers but honestly I don't want a grilled cheese sandwich on a hot/humid day. I was super pumped to see the sprouts tent and bought a few packs of seeds for my sprouting jar!! Will definitely go back next year and hope to see the vendor list grow even further!! read more

Great local fair! The location was great and the atmosphere was good as well. There was a multitude of various local businesses and vendors for all types of industries. This event I'm sure will continue to grow and be better read more

Well that was fun. All the food, music, arts, services, crafts and plants you could ask for from my little big city of Louisville, KY. Beautiful weather and a Riverside view don't hurt either. GOOD WORK Y'ALL! read more

Great event, many wonderful vendors. As a result of the event, I found out about local businesses and foods that I wouldn't have otherwise learned about. However. Event was held at the Water Tower and when strong storms came, employees of the Water Tower refused to allow people to come inside for their safety unless people paid admission to the museum. A friend and I paid the admission and stood in a very large very empty room while we- no kidding- listened to people standing in the whipping rain and lightning, screaming, outdoors. The Buy Local Fair should consider hosting the event elsewhere next year as The Water Tower clearly are not concerned about the safely of those attending events. read more

Amazing day of local crafts, performances, food, beer and inspiration. Something here for everyone. And free!!

Out of all of the festivals and pop-up fairs that Louisville has Buy Local is by far one of my favorites. This year it ended up being on a gorgeous Sunday, which definitely didn't hurt! Located on the Water Tower property it has gorgeous views and tends to do well with the crowds. This fair has all kinds of vendors including local coffee shops, breweries, crafts and arts, yoga studios, half marathon information and so much more. Most of the pop-up fairs around town are so limited and I find myself strolling through them in less than ten minutes. I actually spent a good hour and half at this one. No matter what I can always find something of interest when I come here. They also provide a good selection of food trucks which I don't get to enjoy as much as I do not work in our office downtown (where they typically are during lunch hours). I was a tad disappointed that a few other of the local food vendors were not present, but I didn't eat here anyways so I shouldn't be too bothered by it. They also had bluegrass bands, which I love! It feels like such a local and fun community. The downside was that it was $5 to park, which we had known prior to going as we did check out the website. It seems like such a shame to charge those prices as I never saw an issue with actual parking on the lawn. There were more than enough spaces. Some people walked it in from a nearby lot which wasn't a bad option either. We had just already missed it and it was hard to tell where the other lots were because of the traffic. I will most definitely be back next year. Hope that the day is as sunny and perfect as it was this year. read more