More than 60 bands will be featured over three days this week for the 2015 Forecastle Festival at Louisville’s Waterfront Park.
Forecastle founder J.K. McKnight said the high waters on the Ohio River have led the production team to make a few changes.
“We’ve had to push a couple of stages forward, we’ve had to move some back-of-houses out and into places we’ve never really had things before, but from a fan experience perspective, it shouldn’t really change anything,” McKnight said.
McKnight started the festival in Louisville's Tyler Park in 2002, and moved to its present home at Waterfront Park in 2010. In 2011, Knoxville-based AC Entertainment became a co-producer. AC Entertainment also produces other festivals including Bonnaroo, which takes place in rural Tennessee and requires most festival goers to camp in a field. McKnight said the Forecastle experience is different, being based in downtown Louisville.
“A ton of our fans obviously love Bonnaroo as well, but there’s a whole contingent of people who just won’t camp. My wife is one of them," he said.
"The older I get the more I understand, there’s people who don’t want that experience, they want a different kind of experience in a more urban setting like this."
Festival organizers anticipate approximately 60,000 people to attend. High temperatures for the weekend are forecast to be in the mid-90s.
In one change, festival-goers will see some new art installations this year, reflecting the nautical theme, McKnight said.
The festival begins Friday. Here's more information.
(Photo credit: Eleanor Hasken)
