Beer Cheese Festival

Last updated
Kentucky Beer Cheese Festival
Beer Cheese Festival in Winchester, Kentucky.jpg
Genre festival
Locations Winchester, Kentucky, United States [1]
Years active2009–2019, 2022–
SponsorsShop Local Kentucky, Clark Regional Medical Center, Ale-8-One, Clark County Farm Bureau, and others [1]
Website Winchester Beer Cheese Festival

The Kentucky Beer Cheese Festival is a celebration of beer cheese, an original and unique Kentucky delicacy. [2] This festival's a one-day summertime event [3] held in downtown Winchester, Kentucky, [4] [5] birthplace of beer cheese.

Contents

Overview

The first Beer Cheese Festival took place in June 2009 and was attended by more than 8,000 people. [6] In 2016, nearly 20,000 people attended. [7]

The only casualty of the event was since 2020: officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for scrapping it.

The event features a competition among amateur and commercial beer cheese makers, as well as live music, art and craft displays, a beer "garden" and traditional festival foods. [8] Festival attendees can also sample and vote for their favorite beer cheese to win a People's Choice Award. [9]

The Beer Cheese Festival is the only event celebrating beer cheese in the world. [10] People travel hundreds of miles across many states/countries to sample different varieties of the Kentucky creation. [11]

Mental Floss included the Beer Cheese Festival in their list of "12 Highly Specific (and Extremely Delicious) Food Festivals." [12] Mashable included the Beer Cheese Festival in their list of "14 food festivals that show how serious America is about food." [3]

Wild Bill’s is the two time defending champion of the event winning the People’s Choice Award for best beer cheese in 2025 and 2026. [13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Home - Beer Cheese Festival". beercheesefestival.com. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Beer Cheese for the Win". The Wall Street Journal. January 30, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Rizzo, Cailey (20 May 2016). "14 food festivals that show how serious America is about food". mashable.com. Mashable, Inc. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "The Ultimate Southern Adventure: Kentucky". National Geographic. September 12, 2016. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Beer Cheese Love: Discovering a Kentucky Tradition". Paste Magazine. February 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ "First Beer Cheese Festival draws 8,000 visitors". Central Kentucky News. June 18, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ "Thousands attend 8th annual Beer Cheese Festival in Winchester". WKYT TV. June 11, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Beer cheese: A central Kentucky staple you'd love". Gaylord Herald Times. December 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Winchester Beer Cheese Festival". Kentucky Monthly Magazine. June 11, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ "A One-of-a-Kind Beer Cheese Spectacular at the Beer Cheese Festival". Resort sand Lodges. June 1, 2016.
  11. ↑ "On The Road With RL Reeves Jr: Jean Bell Is The Queen Of Kentucky Beer Cheese". Chowpapi. July 1, 2016. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  12. ↑ "12 Highly Specific (and Extremely Delicious) Food Festivals". Mental Floss Magazine. February 9, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Home - Beer Cheese Festival". 2025-03-13. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
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