LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bourbon and Beyond returns this weekend to Highland Festival Grounds with over 100 musical acts on five stages over four days, bringing one of the biggest sales weeks of the year for local food vendors.
At Ramiro’s Cantina, chef-owner Ramiro Gandara said his team is preparing to move restaurant operations to the festival grounds. Gandara said he has been a vendor at the festivals since they started and continues to return because of “the craziness,” the people and the music.
Gandara said he expects Bourbon and Beyond to draw strong food sales, in part because of the weather. He said the extreme heat during Louder Than Life affected how much people wanted to eat, but the upcoming forecast should help vendors. “Once it gets to 97, 98 degrees, nobody wants to eat,” Gandara said. “But once the temperature is 75, 80, everybody’s hungry. So we do expect five, six hours of just lines.”
Gandara said pricing is also an important factor for vendors. If prices are too high, he said, sales will reflect that. “I know my food costs,” Gandara said. “This is going to cost me $3 to make, it’s going to cost this much money for them, it’s going to cost this much for labor, so I need to make so much on that product, per item to make a profit.”
A customer encouraged festivalgoers to stop for food during the event. “I would advise everyone to come in and get something to eat and enjoy the good authentic food,” the customer said.
