“Our riverfront is incredible,” Calitri said. “In the summertime, every Friday we have what is called ‘Friday After Five’ on the riverfront, and it blows your mind how many people come to this free event. And, we just opened a new bourbon distillery, which is now on the official Bourbon Trail, which is visited by over a million people a year here in Kentucky. Our job is to rebrand this city. All roads lead to Owensboro.”
With access to nearby Interstate 64 and Interstate 65 and the four-lane, 70-mph William Natcher Parkway, which is a direct shot to Owensboro, good times await in this river city.
“The whole theory behind this riverfront-wide renovation was place making,” Kirk said. “Once this city built places that people wanted to go to, we have built things around it. ‘Friday After Five’ in the summer months is a perfect example as it is literally a mile of live music from the Convention Center past the Bluegrass Museum to the RiverPark Center for the Performing Arts. There are six stages of music every Friday between Memorial Day and Labor Day with food trucks, adult beverages and stuff to do for the kids, and it is all free. People have this idea in their head that Owensboro is tucked away somewhere in northwestern Kentucky, but it is all four-lanes of highway that lead here. Because of ease of access and what is going on in the city, people are booking conventions and road trips in line with Friday After Five, the Bourbon Trail and now the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.”