Louisville Celebrates Its Own Past Leading Into America250
The U.S.A will celebrate 250 years in 2026, and Louisville is an under-the-radar destination that gives visitors a taste of true Americana. Raise a glass to the occasion with Louisville’s own iconic cocktails: the Old Fashioned, invented right here in the city, and the Mint Julep, the official drink of the Kentucky Derby since the 1930s. Both classics are made with America’s one-and-only native spirit, Bourbon, making every sip a toast to Louisville’s inimitable story.
Baseball is known as America’s favourite and oldest pastime with The National League of Professional Baseball celebrating 150 years in February 2026. Louisville has been at the centre of thousands of home runs with baseball bats having been made at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory since the late 1800’s. After taking a selfie with Babe Ruth’s 120-foot replica bat visit Cave Hill Cemetery, the final resting place of the Hill sisters, writers of the world’s most sung song, Happy Birthday To You, along with the graves of KFC’s Colonel Sanders and Muhammad Ali. 2026 will mark the 10-year anniversary of Ali’s passing and will be celebrated during the annual Ali Fest at the Muhammad Ali Centre where you can learn both about the Champ’s boxing career, his upbringing in the “Boxing Capital of the World” and the American Civil Rights movement. December 2026 will mark the 25-year anniversary of the film ALI, which starred Academy Award winning actors Will Smith, John Voight and Jamie Foxx.
Headquartered on Louisville’s Main Street since 1988, the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) will unveil a new $30 million Education Centre and Museum by the end of Summer 2026. In conjunction with the current genealogical library that houses over 50,000 materials, the museum will include interactive galleries spanning the entire American Revolution and highlight the pivotal people and events of the period. Over 4th of July, visitors can celebrate over the holiday weekend by taking a fireworks cruise aboard one of the world’s oldest operating steamboats, or experience Broadway phenomenon Hamilton, returning to The Kentucky Centre June 30–July 12, 2026.
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