2025 Festival Postponed: Message from the Organizers

After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the 2025 Bourbon & Moonshine Festival due to repeated flooding, ongoing electrical issues along Main Street, and budget constraints. Given these challenges, hosting the festival this summer is simply not feasible. We appreciate the continued support of our vendors, sponsors, and community members, and we are exploring options for a potential alternate date in the fall or rescheduling for 2026. In the meantime, we’re working to bring live music events to Town Square this summer to keep the spirit of downtown alive. Thank you for your understanding and support. We look forward to celebrating with you again soon!

Updates: See below for fun activities on June 14th in Beattyville/Lee County and the Red River Gorge Region.

🥃🎶 #BourbonMoonshineFest #DowntownBeattyville #LiveMusic

Pages to follow: 
Beattyville Main Street Facebook
Beattyville/Lee County Tourism Facebook
Backroads of Appalachia 
Backwoods Moonshine Museum

10:00am on June 14th, 2025 at the Beattyville Town Square

Shiners for Shriners

With Backroads of Appalachia & Moonshine Trail Loop RRG

Motorcycle Poker Run & Classic Car Bootlegger Run

Backroads of Appalachia and the Whitley County Motorcycle Group, will be hosting the forth annual "Shiners for Shriners" charity Ride! This year the ride will journey round the Red River Gorge Moonshine Trail Loop! ​Activities inlace a Kickoff at the Beattyville Town Square. Registration at 10:00am. Ride starts at 11:00am. Motorcycle Poker Run hosted by Backroads of Appalachia, & Classic Car Bootlegger run. The route with stops along the moonshine trail attractions of the Hungry Hiker (formerly RRG Distilled Spirits), Kentucky Mountain Moonshine Distillery in Irvine, and the Backwoods Moonshine Museum in Old Landing, KY. Proceeds to benefit the local Shrine Club. ​

Plan your visit 

Looking for a place to stay? There are many cabins, campgrounds, and rooms in the Red River Gorge area. Click this link for listings of lodging closest to the festival in Beattyville, KY. 

Directions to Beattyville

Beattyville is located just 20 minutes south of the Natural Bridge/Slade Exit 33 off the Mountain Parkway. 
From Lexington travel East on I-64 toward Winchester and exit onto the Mountain Parkway. Then Exit #33 and turn right onto KY HWY 11 South to Beattyville. 
Beattyville Town Square is located in the middle of Main Street. Turn west at the Red Light HWY 11 and Main Street Intersection.