Come on out for Georgetown’s Memorial Day Weekend festivities
As the world reopens, Georgetown is planning several in-person events (yes, you read that right: in-person*) for this year’s Memorial Day Weekend.
Movie in the Park
Date: May 28, 2021 | To begin at dusk
Place: Brooking Park
It’s game on! The movie is Racing Stripes and the place is provided: Come to Brooking Park on Friday evening, May 28, to take part in one of Georgetown’s most beloved traditions: Movies in the Park.
Put on your comfy clothes, pack a lawn chair and snacks and join fellow movie lovers for a big screen fave. The fun begins at 7 p.m.; the movie begins at dark-o-clock.
Information: www.gscparks.com.
Horsey Hundred
Date: May 28-30
Place: Brooking Park
Different location; same great event: 2021’s Horsey Hundred pulls up stakes at Georgetown College for the first time since 1983 (due to COVID – what else?) and relocates to Brooking Park.
“This location gives us plenty of space to operate outdoors with good social distancing,” said Randy Thomas, who handles the marketing and PR for the event. “It also allows us to keep our same routes – with some minor tweaks, of course.”
Participants can expect to enjoy the same amazing experience that riding through central Kentucky provides.
“With our iconic horse farms, historic stone fences, charming communities, beautiful creeks, streams and rivers, rolling bluegrass hills and friendly and welcoming Georgetown, this is definitely a ride not to miss,” said Randy. “And we have the best volunteers anywhere.”
The goal of Horsey Hundred organizers and volunteers is to provide riders with the best possible experience on and off the bike. Off the bike fun includes traveling the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, visiting Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm, touring the Kentucky Horse Park, kayaking/canoeing Elkhorn Creek, hiking Red River Gorge, sampling outstanding beer from local craft breweries like Georgetown’s own Country Boy Brewing and dining at a delicious variety of independently owned restaurants.
Still, the change of venue necessitated a couple alterations. Although Horsey Hundred organizers cannot provide participants with the typical post-ride meal catered by Georgetown College, they’ve arranged to have a variety of food trucks onsite for participants and will provide info on local restaurant choices.
Additionally, for the first time in the event’s history, registration will be capped at 1,500 participants plus 200 “Sunday Only” registrants.
“The cap was determined based on our anticipated ability to provide the safest possible event for both participants and volunteers following expected COVID-19 mandates and/or recommendations,” said Randy, who expects the event to sell out.
Information: www.horseyhundred.com.
Honeychild Concert
Date: May 29 | 7-10 p.m.
Place: Brooking Park
High-energy Honeychild kicks off Georgetown’s 2021 Concert Series as the city celebrates 11 years of free community concerts.
Known for a wide-ranging musical repertoire that includes everything from laidback soul to upbeat dance music, the Lexington-based ensemble band brings exactly what the community needs right now: lots of soul, excitement and fun.
Pack a lawn chair for resting between dance numbers and an appetite for sampling local yummies from multiple food trucks. Adult-beverage and dessert vendors will be onsite to sweeten the evening.
Georgetown’s Concert Series is offered free to the public thanks to a lineup of generous local sponsors.
Information: www.georgetownky.com/georgetown-concert-series.
*And now for the fine print: All Georgetown events follow COVID-19 recommendations (in effect at the time of the event), including social distancing, facemask wearing and sanitizing. NOTE: For Horsey Hundred, specific requirements for both volunteers and participants will be shared in advance of the event via the Horsey Hundred website and Facebook page and event emails to registered participants.
DID YOU KNOW . . . Memorial Day was known first as Decoration Day and originated following the Civil War as a nationwide day of remembrance “for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” It became an official federal holiday 50 years ago, in 1971.
Author: Kathryn Witt
Kathryn Witt is an award-winning travel and lifestyle writer, syndicated columnist and author of several books, including Secret Cincinnati, The Secret of the Belles and Atlanta Georgia: A Photographic Portrait. A member of SATW, Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Books & Illustrators, she lives in northern Kentucky.
