Come Saturday, East Market Street will be filled with Bock-style beer, Kentucky wurst sausages, and goats racing down Clay Street.

It’s all for the NuLu Bock & Wurst Fest, a Louisville tradition once called Bock Day that dates back to 1858 — but was cut short due to Prohibition in 1919. Now in its fourth year of modern celebrations, the free, family-friendly festival will kick off at 12 p.m. on Sat., March 26.

🍺 So what’s Bock beer?

It’s a German lager that’s typically a dark amber color with a light hoppiness + strong malt flavor. It dates back to 15th-century Einbeck, a northern German town that still exists today. The town’s name sounded like, “Einbock,” in the Bavarian accent of the region at the time — which sounds like the German word for billy goat.

Here’s who will be tapping Bock beer on Saturday: Against the Grain Brewery, TEN20 Craft Brewery, West Sixth Brewing, Gordon Biersch Brewing Co., Falls City Beer, Gravely Brewing, Monnik Beer., Goodwood Brewing, and Mile Wide Beer Co.

🐐 Why goat races?

We don’t have Nanny Goat Strut and Billy Goat Strut alleys just for the cute names. According to local legend, people used to watch goats race down these back streets before the Kentucky Derby was established in 1875.

Goats will be racing all day — starting with a blessing of the goats and Bock beer at 12 p.m. From there, goats in the adult and baby category will go head to head until the final championship races at 5 p.m. + 6 p.m.

🌭 There’ll be sausages too?

You betcha. Eight local restaurants will create their own versions of wurst sausage for a panel of celebrity judges to taste + crown a Wurst Fest Champion.

See who's competing + learn more about German immigrants' contribution to the culture of Derby City at the button below.

THE BOCK STARTS HERE

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EVENTS

Today

Game Nights - Family Feud & Casino Style | Thurs., March 24 | 4-8 p.m. | Lodgic Workplace, 552 E. Market St. | Free to attend | Roll the dice against other professionals at casino tables + rally your family for a real-style feud — minus Steve Harvey. 🎲

Friday

F.A.T. Friday Trolley Hop | Fri., March 25 | 6-10:30 p.m. | Frankfort Avenue | Free | Spend the last Friday of the month hopping on and off the trolley exploring restaurants, art galleries + boutiques along Frankfort Avenue. 🚎

Saturday

Reptiles After Dark | Sat., March 26 | 6-8 p.m. | Kentucky International Convention Center | $8 | Check out these crawling critters when they wiggle their way into the Ville 🐍
The Avett Brothers | Sat., March 26 | 8 p.m. | KFC Yum! Center | $46+ | Catch this three-time GRAMMY-nominated American-folk rock band when they stop in the 502. 🎤

Sunday

Embroidery Workshop with Jordan Kavuma | Sun., March 27 | 4-6 p.m. | The Craftery, 823 E. Market St. | Learn the basics of embroidery + get the tools to stitch your own design. 🪡

Wednesday

Beginner Ballroom Dance Class for Couples | Wed., March 30 | 7-7:50 p.m. | Bravo Dance Studio!, 2138 Old Shepherdsville Rd. | $20 | Grab your partner and dance the night away at this class where you’ll learn different styles of dance. 💃

We have a monthly guide filled with events + activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.

MORE MARCH EVENTS HERE

NEWS NOTES

Weather

56º | Mostly cloudy | 20% chance of rain

Open

Gertie's Sports Bar Next Door is now open in NuLu at 823 E. Market St., next to The Craftery. The 14-television sports bar is a celebration of Kentucky culture, with a bar program ranging from beer to specialty cocktails. It’ll also be serving Nashville and Chicago-style hot dogs. 🌭 (Louisville Business First)

Closing

Walmart is closing its location near Pleasure Ridge Park at 7100 Raggard Rd. with its final day on Fri., April 22. Its 306 employees will be paid through Fri., July 1 unless they transfer to a new location, which the company’s human resources department will help facilitate. (The Courier-Journal)

Community

No more bridge tolls? A Metro Council committee approved a resolution to reduce or eliminate the tolls on the Abraham Lincoln Bridge, the Lewis and Clark Bridge + the Kennedy Bridge. The resolution will now go before the whole council for a vote. 🌉 (WLKY)
The city is piloting a new program called the Alternative Response Model, which would connect people experiencing mental health crises with MetroSafe, rather than calling the police. The program would connect callers with trained specialists + safely transport them to care facilities, if necessary. It’s being tested in the Old Louisville area. (WLKY)

Number

$1.36 million. That’s how much money Louisville Tourism is getting as part of a statewide tourism recovery fund announced by Gov. Andy Beshear. The next-closest beneficiary to LOU is the Elizabethtown Tourist and Convention Bureau about 45 minutes away, which is set to receive $89,000+. 💰 (WDRB)

Show

Waterfront Wednesday is back for the season beginning Wed., April 27 + runs through Wed., Sept. 28. Musical acts for the beloved riverside concert series haven’t been announced yet, but we’d love to know who you want to see. Past acts have included Houndmouth, Shakey Graves + Moon Taxi. 🎸 (WFPK)

Kids

Simidele Adeagbo — who was the first female athlete to represent Nigeria + Africa in the skeleton event at the 2018 Winter Olympics — will be at Carmicheal’s Bookstore on Frankfort Avenue on Sun., March 27 supporting the release of her first children’s book, “Sleigh Sleigh Sleigh All Day.” 🛷

Pets

Louisville Metro Animal Services has reinstated its program that will allow people to take shelter dogs out on “field trips.” Participants must take a one-hour orientation class before they let the dogs out, but then they can grab a pooch + hit the town together. 🐕 (WLKY)

📸 @theloutoday

In a tight race, 80/20 @ Kaelin’s Restaurant — which, according to legend, invented the cheeseburger in 1934 — beat out our other competitors to claim the title of Best Local Cheeseburger.

We’ve always been interested in this cheeseburger myth of creation so we looked into it + learned that most historians credit Lionel Sternberger of Pasadena, California as the inventor of the American classic in 1924. Regardless, we’ll be enjoying a patty with 80/20 sauce on it this weekend.

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THE WRAP

Editor's pick: I got the pleasure of checking out the new Chocolate & Nut Kingdom in Buechel and it is aptly named.

I’m going to feel so cool from here on out telling my friends, “I’m headed to the kingdom,” whenever I go to get gourmet chocolates, nuts, baklava, and seasonings — because I can never just get one thing.

Missed yesterday's newsletter? Read up on three LOU inventions here.