This was my first time attending all 4 days of a music festival like this. My friend and I had VIP tickets, which meant we had a separate section to hang out in and watch bands perform on the main stages. We also had flushable toilets, our own food vendors and merch tents. I would say it was definitely worth it, as general admission areas were not as nice and more crowded. The concert lineup was awesome, so many incredible bands and performers. I think this was also the first time it was held at the KY expo center, since it's bigger than past venues and this was the biggest festival they'd had to date. We also had the shuttle pass which took us to and from downtown. For the most part, this worked out pretty good. There were a few hiccups but overall I think it was worth the money. They even opened up KY kingdom amusement park for people to ride rides and play games. We went on the first day and were able to get in without any problems but the other days there was always a line to get in. Of course, the cost of food and drink was crazy but that's to be expected at any large event. There were water refill stations everywhere and people were encouraged to bring usable clear water bottles. Lockers were also available for rent. A good time, I would definitely come back if they had a good line up in the future. read more

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This year was my first time going to Louder Than Life. After spending 2 days at the festival, I see where the hype is but it's not really my thing. I went on Saturday and Sunday with friends where I knew nobody on Saturday but knew a handful on Sunday. The festival is set up very well. They have the shows very organized and everything is spacious. It was pretty easy to find food and merchandise. They also provide a ton of food options. It is a cool idea that they had Kentucky Kingdom open so it gives people something else to do if they have a big gap in between performances. What I don't care for is how crowded it gets. Getting from one stage to another can be very tricky because of how packed it gets. Everything is also EXTREMELY expensive. An order of chicken tinders is 20 dollars and a beer is close to 16 dollars. Luckily we were able to bring in granola bars to hold us over. I would come back to Louder than Life but I probably will only go for one day read more

Louder Than Life - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

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Louder than Life is the best metal music festival! The layout is very nice and gets better each year as they learn from mistakes of placements. The food is really nice actually, although a little pricey. Tons of options! The VIP experience is nice, you can get very close to the stage and there is a comfy area to sit that is covered. We have been almost every year and look forward to it each time! read more

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Havent even been yet but messing with the payment plan schedule? Kinda defeats the purpose. Mid-pay week and I had to pawn stuff (that I luckily had) to even secure my tickets? #Disappointed read more

I've been to this festival twice and very much have a love/hate relationship with it. If LTL continues to bring Slipknot to Louisville, I'll go every time they're here. I first went to this festival in its early days when it was at Champion's Park(again, primarily for Slipknot). Since then, the festival has moved to the fairgrounds and morphed into a 4-day, corporate, big names, lots of people, festival prices, cash grab festival. I saw quite a few of the musical acts roaming the crowd this year so that was a neat aspect that I didn't expect. It might just be because there are so many bands on the bill for this festival. Although most of my musical tastes have shifted, there is still a place for metal. This year... Slipknot and Gwar were the main reasons to attend. Aside from that, two other bands that surprised me live were Until I Wake(similar to the emo/screamo core from the early 2000s) and Silly Goose(similar to Rage/Limp/Chili Peppers)... both impressed me live. It's good that we have a festival like this. It wasn't until recently that you'd have to travel to Ohio or Chicago for a metal-to-rock fest of this caliber. There are a few drawbacks to this festival. Lack of shade hurts it significantly so definitely take a hat and sunscreen. Do you mosh? If not... you should. The problem with this festival is all the gravel near the stage. It doesn't take long until gravel dust is kicked up enough and if you're like me... it can wreck your sinuses the next day. The price definitely sucks for this festival so I don't see myself ever attending this fest for an entire weekend. With that, wait for the schedule, pick a day or two and rock out. To add to that... it seems a bit ridiculous that you can't leave and re-enter. To add to the prices would be the food/drink prices. You can expect a certain amount of expense when attending music festivals but 12 dollars for domestic beer and 15-20 for food... awful food at that! Eat before coming. Drink before if you can too. And don't even get me started on the bourbon... 12-20 bucks for a 2 oz pour... who do these people think they are? The water station lines move quickly. So no complaints there. Bring your empty bottle and enjoy free water all day. We have so many things to do in Louisville and it's good that the DW festivals are here. It just adds extra things to do at the end of summer/beginning of fall if music is your thing. read more

Off to a bad start. Took half an hour to get through a second safety check to get to the Kentucky kingdom stage. Had to throw away our already expensive drinks to get through said checkpoint. Only to wander around trying to find the stage. When we did find it it's over capacity. Heaven forbid more than a hand full of people want to see a band on that stage. Also Ada access is poorly marked. Hopefully they do better on day 2. read more

This review is addressed to Danny Wimmer, who puts on this festival as well as Bourbon and Beyond. I'm well aware he's not going to read this, but for some reason, I want to talk to him. Dear Danny - I have a real love/hate relationship with you. My problem with you is that you so thoroughly dominate the Louisville market with your festivals that your festivals are pretty much the only chance to see a lot of really terrific acts. Because of exclusivity deals, a band's stop at one of your festivals is usually the only shot to see someone. So either I pay to go to your festival, or I am out of luck. This sucks as a consumer. Particularly since a festival slot is usually shorter, and often involves far less production, etc. Not to mention the fact that your festivals are not at all cheap. But here's the thing: While your festivals cost a lot of money, they are incredibly well run. It's just a very professional event. There are so many things that could go wrong that just don't. Yes, food and drinks are expensive. But you also allow people to bring in water bottles and provide more than adequate water stations. There are more than adequate restrooms, and thank goodness for that. And the lineups are quite frankly incredible. Louder Than Life, in particular, had so many great ask that I wasn't able to physically see them all because a human can't be in two places at once. So Danny, you are my best friend and my worst enemy at the same time. I would love to pick your brain about how you do what you do. If you ever want to have lunch with a peasant when you are in Louisville, by all means call me. read more

I attended LTL 23 and I must say "this was an amazing venue". I was very surprised at the grounds size, freaking vast. The music didn't even crisscross too much that's just how big this place is. The Musican lineup was stellar.It was very hot out but there was plenty of provided water. Security was professional and effective. I would highly recommend visiting Louder Than Life read more

Went here for the 2019 weekend festival and had a good time. The parking was $20 each day, but they offer you a shuttle to the venue--a nice touch. After the concert, you're on your own to the parking lot (about a 25 minute walk). The venue is pretty big with tons of food vendors, some picnic tables, and other merchants selling clothing and other items. The place is relatively flat and because of the 90+ degree weather, the dirt was dry and created clouds of dirt that you had to breath in. They should have watered it down overnight so it wasn't so dusty. Because of the two main stage set-up, you are best walking to the front middle near the centre aisle. That way you can see both stages easily and lean against the fence. You can also ask the staff for bottle water and they will fill up your water bottle or pour it on you mouth. Getting out of the venue at 11:00pm or midnight was super easy. Not much of a line up at all! read more

Louder Than Life - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

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Well organized festival. We sprang for the VIP tickets and I found them to be worth it due to bathroom trailers with running water to wash your hands, reverse osmosis bottle fillers, big VIP tent, and some seating outdoors. Really solid lineup, good sound, and the crowd behaved themselves. If it weren't for just being outdoors for 11 or so hours a day, I would definitely come back. I'll leave this festival to younger me. read more

Amazing venue, great staff and people! Lost my phone crowd surfing and got it back 2 days later without a single crack!!

The description of PASSES, and what you actually get, totally different. The venue was awful, and if you think side stage means you paid to get there, this is what I saw of my fav band read more

Louder Than Life - If this is what DWP (Danny Wiemmer Prod.) calls side stage, well, not worth $1800.00, AWFUL EXPERIENCE - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

I've been to all of the Louder Than Life Festivals so far and plan to always go. I go to many music festivals and this is by far my favorite one. Danny Wimmer has made this an excellent event with a wonderful mix of relevant bands. The food trucks are also such a great choice and there are many different beer and bourbon vendors to choose from. Champions Park is the perfect place for this. It has been such a mix of weather, but when it is hot there is plenty of shade to be found. You get a lot of walking in so wear comfortable shoes unless you just have to be edge then wear those heels, girl. read more

No cell phone reception. Almost all taxis in the area are not legit. Beware after the show.

I chose this festival because of the bands and time of year thinking it would be a little cooler outside. Nope, it was in the 90s and felt like 100. There were sooooooo many people. But the bands were totally worth the migraine I ended up with. I was able to see sum 41, in this moment, rob zombie, Marilyn Manson, and more. The Mac n cheese I got was delicious! My main complaints are that there was so much cigarette smoke I couldn't breathe and kept getting hit with cigarettes which burned my skin. I think having a smoking area could help with that some. I also think having more shaded spots would be nice to help with the heat. The festival grounds were dusty and I blew dust out of my nose for days . Otherwise it was a magical experience in music. Those sign language interpreters were awesome too! read more

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I loved the location this year, the line up and all of it! My only request is more mist fans, water refill stations and port a potties closer to the entrance. I kinda get WHY these things are sparse or where they are located, but at the same time the convenience of having more would be so much better--especially how hot it was!! Otherwise everything was great, the food choices the bars the prices, etc etc! :) Cant wait for next year! read more

Louder Than Life - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

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I attended louder than life this weekend and it was amazing, I'd give it 10 stars if I could. It's definitely one of the best music festivals I've ever attended. I will definitely be getting tickets for 2022. I can't wait to see the lineup. read more

We bought VIP tickets about 2 months before the show and I will say it was worth it to have the VIP-BUT-I hope next year they plan the VIP section a little better. There were not enough chairs/tables or porta potties. And when they did get more porta potties none of them had toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizer. ICK-bring your own Kleenex and hand sanitizer if you decide to go next year. The place was crazy busy and MOST of the bands were great. Kid Rock sucked-he is too commercialized (this coming from a native Michigander) 5 Finger Death Punch, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Papa Roach, A Day to Remember, POD all crushed it! They put on great shows. I would not bring kids EVER! There were a lot of mosh pits and people crowd surfing-too dangerous for anyone under the age of 16. Food options were great-I knew most of the local food trucks so I knew I had gluten free options. LTL said they would have a gluten free area, which we could not find and when I tweeted them they finally got back to me and said some of the vendors offer it. No gluten free alcohol so they lost a lot of money on that end. Next year get Apocalypse to be one of your beer vendors. We would go again but I hope the people who put this event on learned from this year's event for the VIP. read more

I attended all three days, did VIP payed extra credit just for better toilets, we were on side of stage nothing much VIP about it, also had to pay additional$20 to park, that should be added into VIP pricing. Only because the only perk I had was flushing toilet and a merchandise stand not packed. Concert itself magnificent!!!! read more

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I absolutely love this event! This was my second year of attendance and I must say I do think they stepped up their game from last year. There were more port-a-pots scattered around (still a hike to get to the main bunch though), more food booths (oh so many), I do believe beer was a bit cheaper, they added an extra stage, and they had WWE Wrestling this year! The main topic...the food. Lol! Oh my goodness. I swear there were double the booths and food trucks this go-round. On day one I had bacon mac-n-cheese, a bite of a corn dog, a bite of a bacon corn fritter, and a deep fried oreo with bacon. Bacon was the theme in several places. I wasn't complaining. Everything I ate on day one was delicious! Yeah the food was pricey, but you gotta eat! On day two I had some pulled pork nachos smothered in beans, nacho cheese, pork, sweet bbq sauce and a dollop of sour cream. Those were AWESOME! I don't remember the name of the business but they were the one with the big roasting pig in the front. I also tried the chicken on a stick and the Island Noodles with chicken. Wow!!!! Both so good. I think it's great there were so many different food options, and all the options were yummy. From what I read there were 50,000 people who attended this year. They also adjusted the sound so it didn't disturb the neighbors (they had a bunch of complaints last year). Even though they did tweak a few things it still seemed just as loud to me! It's gotta be. It's Louder Than Life!!!!!!! Can't wait for next year! See ya in 2016 LTL! read more

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Customer service is absolutely horrible. We received our wristbands and couldn't register them because the website was down. We called and couldn't get one person who actually spoke decent English. Instead told us that we were sol and that a supervisor would call us in 24-48 hours. He said they don't even have the ability to register wristbands over the phone...when the concert was later that day. Get with the program LTL! read more

Five star for all the performances it was a once in a lifetime experience! Slipknot, Gwar, Rob Zombie, Guns N Roses, Dropkick Murphys, Marilyn Manson, DED, Disturbed, and so on! They all put on amazing performances. I will say I lived the 80s for three days. Interesting people, strangers sharing smuggled vodka and everclear in recycled water bottles (yes, I did partake, alcohol was very expensive up here). Strong smells of weed and tobacco. (Did not feel like partaking, haha.) The Food, Drink, and Vendor area was kept clean. However it's a completely different environment when you push your way to the barricades at the front of the crowd. Not clean. And by clean I do not just mean trash. Moshing(did partake), crowd surfing (did partake), pushing, shoving, squishing, screaming, blood, sweat, tears, dirt, body oder, panic attacks, vomiting. The biggest reason I wanted to go to this event was for Disturbed. A man I love very much introduced me to the band. Their songs got us through our depression and addictions. I never get to see him that much and Disturbed is one of his favorites. Unfortunately he couldn't make it. Being autistic this was way out of my comfort zone and I was thankful to make it through hell to get as much up close video as I could for him! Don't know if I will ever have a lively experience like this anytime soon. Thank you yelp for giving me one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. read more

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So I never really felt safe or comfortable at this festival of pure chaos and cringe. Everything is set up the same as every other music festival at Ky Expo Center... Just a new coat of paint. It is not worth the money, even for the VIP sections they oversold to way more people than comfortable. This is a gigantic cash grab! Too much marijuana! $20 subpar cheese steak. Oh, you like rum and coke? $14. Oh, we don't offer refunds! Folks, stop supporting these large concerts and show your love to the local scene! read more

I don't think this fest will return and if it does it will be like Chicago open air 2019 and then it won't come back. Needs to move from being a metal fest to a all genre fest if it wants to stick around. Oh well wait for the lineup and decide then if I will return, most likely not. The only complaints I have our lack of places to rest our feet, Lack of shade by the stages, Too much liquor and not enough nonalcoholic drinks, there should be shade over the ada areas, security wasn't checking our bags right, I got heat exhausted with heart problems and had to walk away from the show I wanted to see, the negative remarks of some of the bands (no politics, no drama, no bull shit) What I have loved is the shows, the art installations, the vendors, the blackened whisky, the vip area (wish it had more places to sit) also found people passed out most likely drunk, but could have been alcohol poisoning or a overdose and nobody cared or would do anything they would just be passed out. Safety was created by your own self and the fact that the mgk incident happened and the vendor died of a overdose. I mean like soda and water was Impossible to find where I can pay with card for being a cashless venue a lot of the card readers kept breaking at various vendors, if I would have known that I would have brought cash. I miss Chicago open air. Overall the shows were great the festival sucked I highly recommend that if you go you stay in a hotel away from there I was an 18 minute drive. I talk to one guy as he was walking out who said that a guard punched him in the face because he went to the wrong exit on the last night. The hotels near were shaking. The residents complained after about the second or third night and they had to change the sound and completely destroyed night two of Metallica. The campsites went on partying I heard until 5 AM each day. It gets so hot he just couldn't breathe at times. At times it felt like a riot was gonna happen thankfully it didn't. Just go to lollapalooza VIP was the only safe spot to watch shows read more

The venue was a great setup. I liked the walk into the venue. The selections of foods was on-point. The bourbon selections made Kentucky proud. The VIP area was well appointed with a large tent, a separate bar, and lockers. However, the stands were located too far from the stage. ROTR has a much better setup. The sound engineers dropped the ball this year. Many different bands presented a challenge that could not be met by the sound engineers. I hope, that in the future, more attention is given to the quality of the sound. Millions have been spent by the bands to achieve their respective sounds, but the venue was severely lacking in the execution of those sounds. Halestorm and Rise Against definitely won their respective days with stiff competition. More vendors could have showed up and peddled their wares. Another lesson from ROTR. And most of the festival stalls had closed by the time the second to the last band played... not very professional. The management should have required specific hours of the vendors. All in all, the festival was ok, but could've been awesome. read more

Louder Than Life - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

Amazing experience!! Need to work on the area in front of the 2 stages ,there should be a section for all the VIP ticket to holders . Other than that , I will go again next year as long as they continue to have great line ups . read more

First time attending the festival or a concert for that matter where I didn't have to work. Parking was affordable if you don't mind the mile walk. Food and drinks a little on the pricey side but not all too bad. Not bad for the first night. Not too crowded and the bands were amazing. Lots of traffic at the end of the night so patience is a must. Definitely saving up for next year's festival. Hoping to attend all nights next time. read more

I have been attending this event since the beginning. If I realized before I bought my plane tickets, rearranged my schedule, and spent $$$ on tickets I would not be going this year. The venue is good and the lineup is usually awesome. The food and bourbon tent are nice touches. The bathroom situation is abhorrent I understand the need for porta potties (although they do make nicer trailer versions) but they could try keeping them clean or at the least stocked with toilet paper. Now, they've decided to not even let us bring string bags in to carry such items, not to mention other toiletries one might need. Also, last year we brought our bags AND rented a locker, so if the motivation for not allowing bags is to rent more lockers you can forget it! This means that I will not be buying shirts or any other merchandise from the vendors and I love to buy stuff. Most of the people attending, especially those from out of town, obviously have good jobs due to the cost of attending. I also noticed that the average age is NOT 21, it's a lot older. If I were young and either didn't have a job or at least a good one that requires drug testing I guarantee I would either take my drugs prior to entering or get some in. I would like you to rethink your bag policy as I have to go through enough hassle flying all the time. If these events continue to treat us like scum and ne'er do wells people who can afford to attend will cease to do so. read more

Great weekend!! Lots of bands. Food beverages and merchandise. Special thanks to louisville yelp elite for making it happen for me :) can't wait for next year!!! read more

Louder Than Life - Steel Panther!!! - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

The music isn't bad but when you live close to the Festival it becomes annoying. The city needs to move it back down near the water front or find a different location. They start sound testing on the Tuesday before the festival and will play until about 11:30pm. ( noise ordanace states it cant be loud past 10pm during the week. ) Neighbors also notice they get louder toward the night. Gotta love having to go to work at night at ups and cant get any sleep during the day. read more

My friends and I decided to meet in Louisville to see the festival. Loved all of the headlining acts. We got the TOP SHELF VIP, which was fantastic and we could not have survived all 3 days if we did not have that, that made the festival worthwhile. I would prefer that they have the main acts on the stage closest to the TOP SHELF VIP, since we paid more than regular VIP. And I would recommend extending the viewing area in front of the stage, but the weekend was a blast, and we are doing it again next year. read more

The venue can barely fit all the people and the lines are so long you will die of thirst b4 getting a drink. The bathrooms are horabel but the food is good. All in all it was just okay but not worth the money u have to spend on food and drinks ex $13 hamburger and $11 for a beer. read more

Missed a couple of bands we wanted to see the second day, but over all it was an awesome time... I was disappointed that they were out of the louder than life hoodies both days. I am looking forward to next year. read more

We go to a lot of concerts and in terms of food, experiences, and line-up, this festival ranks up near the top. Traffic patterns when leaving kept it from being 5 stars, however. We waited 2 hours for our Uber to get to us on Saturday night and even though we left with still three groups to go on Sunday, it took us over 45 minutes to get out of the venue on Sunday. Something needs to be improved in terms of routing traffic. read more

Yeah, it was ok... Good points: The performances at the festival are well organized. Bands started and stopped on time. The two main stages broadcast the audio at both stages so even if the band is playing on the stage next to you everything was clear where you were. The video screens at the stages were easy to view and improved the show. The festival was well attended but it never felt too difficult to move around to where you need to go. The "Experiences" were well designed and looked cool. The band signing events were also well organized and went smoothly. Food was at a price I expect for festivals and what I ate was of good quality. Getting through the main entrance was quick and smooth. Negative points: While the park is nice the location is not convenient. There is no public transportation access and not even a shuttle bus to help lighten the load on the crowded streets. Uber/Lyft locations are confusing for drivers and are a long walk from the festival. Mobile networks were oversubscribed and it was difficult to get a clean data signal to request an Lyft/Uber. In the festival, toilets were concentrated in just a couple of spots and the lines were always long. The merch tent was unorganized and understaffed with lines of hour long or more; plus it was impossible to see the selection because of the long lines until you reached the front which likely added to the confusion. The restriction on bags requires you to basically buy a nearly non-existent tiny clear or mesh bag to bring in anything, plus, I was disappointed to see the rule was not strictly enforced after all as some people had bags that violated the rules. There was no app for the festival for Android even though their email communications say that one exists. I'm not sure if this is a festival rule or a law but vending staff open all your beverages so I couldn't buy an extra bottle of water unless I planned to carry an extra open bottle of water without a cap. One last note for my fellow festival attendees: I came in from out of town and attend many music festivals. I have say something to my new friends here in Louisville: HEY, crowd surfing hasn't really been that cool since 1992. No one really wants to haul your drunk 250 lb body a 100 yards to the stage. If you are a skinny teenager or something and are 10 feet from the stage, go for it. If you are a drunk overweight middle-age man over 50 feet from the stage keep your feet on the ground. I spent half the time with my back to the stage watching behind me for the next crowd surfer (because they came not-stop) and the other half having people dropped on my head. I know some people come to festivals to party but I came for music and feel like I missed out on enjoying some of the bands because of my fellow festival goers. read more

This is coming from someone who lives in the very dense residential area less than an eighth of a mile from this park. Louder than life two years in a row and now Bourbon and Beyond a week before it this year are the main reasons I will be selling my home and moving elsewhere. Tired of insanely loud heavy metal sound checks at 7 or 8am Saturday and Sunday morning and not being able to leave my house due to ridiculous traffic and cars parked in my yard. Not to mention it last until 1am on Saturday and midnight on Sunday night. Even local officials have just laughed when I've complained about it. Heavy metal music festivals should not be held in locations right across the street from apartment complexes and family homes. Try calming a toddler and baby (I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old) or keeping your dogs from barking all night when classy bands like Slip Knot and Korn are rattling the foundation of your house. Or some dude with green hair throwing up in your bird bath in your back yard. Or even a couple of addicts passed out in a car parked in your front yard. I know of other families on my street that moved after Louder than Life was allowed to come back for a second year last year, and this year I will be doing the same. read more