Bardstown, Ky. Goes Vintage for Spring

Jan. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- This spring, visitors to Bardstown can quibble with  merchants at an 18th Century Market Fair or haggle with dealers at an Antiques Show & Sale when the town turns back the clock a century or two. The Second Annual Bardstown Colonial Days weekend returns to Old Bardstown Village March 30 to April 1. The 45th Annual Antique Show & Sale, featuring 100 dealers, comes to town April 14 and 15. Click http://www.visitbardstown.com/tourism/events.php to see Bardstown’s calendar of events, which also includes trains, “tastes” and more.

Commune with the Colonials
Relive the 18th century – about 100 years before Bardstown became the “Bourbon Capital of the World” – during a Colonial Days weekend, March 30 to April 1. Besides the 18th Century Market Fair, there will be living history demonstrations, a Native American village, flintlock rifle demos, military drills and displays, lots of entertainers and artisans who hail from the late 1700s and an 18th Century Tavern Night on Fri., March 30 at the Old Talbott Tavern, built in 1779. A Historical Ball will be held on Saturday evening at Historic Wickland Estate. Festival admission: Free.

Barter with the best
About 100 dealers from a dozen different states will set up shop during Bardstown’s Antique Show & Sale, the official antiques show of Kentucky and one Country Living Magazine calls one of the “best antiques sales.” Browse an enormous range of antiques, from vintage collectibles to museum quality artifacts, and enjoy chef-prepared edibles. The event takes place at Nelson County High School. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat., April 14 and 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun., April 15. Admission: $6 per person.

Trains, ‘tastes,’ etc.
Other springtime events in Bardstown include My Old Kentucky Dinner Train’s Murder Mystery on Sat., March 31. Sleuth your way through a four-course meal – from amuse-bouche to dessert – while rolling through Bourbon Country. Several themed excursions are offered by the Kentucky Railway Museum: Board the 90-minute Spring Break Express on Fri., April 6 or join the Easter Bunny on Sat., April 7 for the Cottontail Express. The Pizza Train also departs the station on April 7. Excursions are on a restored passenger train and travel the scenic and historic Rolling Fork River Valley.

The l8th Annual Taste of Bardstown gets underway on Mon., April 16 at St. Gregory Reception Hall with more than 15 local restaurants. Sip your way through the Kentucky Bourbon Festival Sampler on Sat., April 28 with a sampling of Kentucky bourbons and foods from area restaurants. Prefer herbs? Try some at the Shades of Nature Herb Festival, also on April 28. Held at Historic Wickland Estate, this event features cooking demos, music, organic meat vendors, plants and earth based crafts and more.

Visit http://www.VisitBardstown.com/tourism for more details on all Bardstown’s spring events, which also include more themed train excursions, ghost tours, Friday night Bardstown Opry and Civil War re-enactments.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dennis Medley, Colonial Days Event Director; Citadel43@aol.com, 502-396-5311
Rod Lich, Bardstown Antique Show & Sale; Rod@parrettlich.com, 502-348-4877, 800-638-4877
Dawn Przystal, Vice President-Bardstown-Nelson County TCC, Dawn@bardstowntourism.com, 800-638-4877 x 114
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission, http://www.VisitBardstown.com/tourism

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With its quintessential Southern small town sensibility, nearly 200 National Register of Historic Place buildings and charming circular Courthouse Square, Bardstown seems more like a yesteryear village than a bustling town in central Kentucky. But bustle it does: The “Bourbon Capital of the World” is a spirited community that is home to the distilleries of Kentucky Bourbon Country: Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam and Barton 1792 Distillery. Bardstown has one of the four most important Civil War museums in the country, the Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre, as well as the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History and The Kentucky Railway Museum. It is the backdrop for “The Stephen Foster Story,” Kentucky’s official outdoor drama, and for a vibrant restaurant and shopping landscape. Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three self-guided tours, two wineries and numerous religious attractions.