If someone in Henderson tells you thereโs nothing to do, donโt believe them. Thereโs no shortage of arts and cultural events to create a nice quality of life.
MUSIC FESTIVALS
Henderson has a string of music festivals in the warm months that run the genre gamut and keep people tapping their toes.
It starts in mid-May with Summerfest, an evening of rock music presented on an outdoor stage with the Ohio River as a backdrop. The site is on the doorstep of nine Downtown restaurants, and thereโs a beer garden.
On the Saturday evening that launches June, 10 South Main front porches become the performance spaces for musicians at PorchFest, with food trucks perched nearby. PorchFest quickly is followed by the long-running W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival, whose main stage offers four days of blues artists. Local restaurants and watering holes host their own music for lunch breaks and happy hours.
In July, songwriters take the spotlight at the Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival. Nashville, Tennessee, songwriters perform their works โ often hits by bigname artists โ and tell stories about them. Of the five summer music festivals, only Sandy Lee Watkins requires a ticket.
In August, the two-day Bluegrass in the Park Folklife Festival features bands playing both traditional and progressive bluegrass music.
BEYOND MUSIC
There are plenty of other events sprinkled throughout the year. To bust folks out of the winter doldrums in April, the Breakfast Lions Club hosts Tri-Fest, a street festival with food booths, carnival rides, contests, and fireworks.
Festivals celebrating diversity include Juneteenth and Pride in the summer and the colorful Dia de los Muertos in the fall. In October, the Henderson Lions Club presents an Arts & Crafts Festival at Audubon State Park, offering plenty of fall decor and holiday gifts.
VISUAL ARTS
For visual arts fans, there are galleries with rotating shows at Henderson Community Collegeโs Preston Arts Center, Gallery 101, Citi-Center office building, and Henderson County Public Libraryโs Dick & Sheila Beaven Gallery. Ohio Valley Art League hosts โpop-up galleriesโ in Downtown businesses at Novemberโs Art Hop.
Seven murals lend local color to Downtown buildings, and a walking trail of bronze bird sculptures depicts the works of artist/naturalist John James Audubon, who lived here for about a decade. In addition to gallery shows, the Audubon Museum possesses a world-class collection of Audubon art and historical artifacts.
PERFORMING ARTS
Henderson Area Arts Alliance presents its annual season of touring artists at Preston Arts Center, showcasing music, theater, dance, comedy, and more. Over the years, performers have included Marvin Hamlisch, Bill Monroe, Vienna Boys Choir, Burt Bacharach, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Smothers Brothers, Glen Campbell, Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, Russian National Ballet, and dozens of other shows.
Did You Know?
>> Country legend Louis Marshall Jones, aka โGrandpa Jones,โ was born in Henderson County in the Niagara community. His character was a feature of the TV country variety show โHee Haw.โ
>> โFather of the Bluesโ W.C. Handy was a Henderson resident for about 10 years starting in the 1890s and met his first wife here at a summer barbecue.
>> One-time resident John James Audubonโs โThe Birds of Americaโ double-elephant folio, which documents 435 species of birds, is considered one of the worldโs most expensive books.
>> Womenโs Honor Court Park on the riverfront showcases local women whose accomplishments have enriched the communityโs story. Itโs the only park dedicated to women in Kentucky and one of only a handful in the U.S.
