Hometown Rising, Bourbon & Beyond canceled amid 'uncertainty,' but Louder Than Life still on

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A production company has canceled two of its three 2021 Louisville festivals, citing "uncertainty," but a third event is still in the works.

Danny Wimmer Presents, which produces both the Hometown Rising and Bourbon & Beyond festivals, announced Wednesday that it is putting the brakes on both events.

"We regret to inform you that we will be taking 2021 off," the company said in identical statements announcing the cancellation of both festivals. "With all the uncertainty in 2021, as a company we made the tough decision to focus on our long tenured U.S. festivals, which includes Louder Than Life."

It marks the second year in a row that both events have been canceled. Last year, Hometown Rising, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year, the company said it's moving full steam ahead on plans to hold Louder Than Life on the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center on Sept. 23-26.

"They're going to make it a four-day festival so they can really spread it out," Karen Williams, with Louisville Tourism, said. "They're looking at 45,000 over the course of the entire festival. But this really starts opening the door if you will for people to come to the city."

The event will take place with a new Thursday night kickoff event. All current pass-holders will receive admission to the Thursday night event for free.

"Taking our festivals down last year was one of the most painful experiences our company has ever lived through," Danny Wimmer, founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, said in a statement. "And it wasn't just painful for us, it was hard on the board, fans, partners, cities and vendors. It has become clear to us that we will not be able to have our festivals this spring, and for a variety of reasons, it is not possible to produce all of our annual festivals in the window of Fall 2021, so we made the difficult decision to only produce Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville and Louder Than Life this year. These are our longest running and most geographically diverse festivals. Focusing on these three events, along Inkcarceration Festival at the end of July gives as many fans as possible, from all over the country, the chance to rock again."

Information on band lineups will be coming in the spring.