A Look at Louisville’s 2025 Convention Tourism Calendar

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (January 15, 2025)—As Louisville embraces the start of a new year, the slate of upcoming 2025 conventions and events reflects the city’s longstanding reputation as host to several of the country’s largest industry expos and championships.

Louisville’s top events include the largest girls’ basketball exposure event in the nation (TFN Run 4 Roses Classic and Championship), the world’s largest and longest running annual heavy-duty trucking event (Mid-America Trucking Show) and one of the largest outdoor hardscape and landscape shows, utilizing more than a million square feet of exhibits and 30 acres of outside space at the Kentucky Exposition Center (Equip Exposition).

Equip Exposition once again broke records with over 27,000 attendees in 2024. The award-winning trade show expanded its usual footprint at KEC to add the West Wing this year due to space demands. Another legacy show, The Utility Expo, returns to KEC following a record-breaking 2023, which brought more than 21,000 attendees for the biennial show, utilizing 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space. The leading trade show for utility professionals was honored with the #3 spot in the Top 100 Trade Shows by Trade Show Executive.

Louisville accounts for 30% of the economic impact making up Kentucky’s $13.8 billion tourism industry. The local hospitality and tourism sector continues to grow, now employing nearly 70,000 people in Jefferson County, returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Over the past year, the city received accolades from major publications including Travel + Leisure, TripAdvisor, Airbnb, Southern Living and AFAR, among others. Louisville was crowned one of the "South’s Best Cities," one of the "50 Best Places to Travel to in 2024" and earned the title of one of "The Best Food Cities in the U.S."

Louisville’s music festivals continue to hit high notes with fans as the sixth annual Bourbon & Beyond festival entertained 210,000 fans over the four-day weekend, including 60,000 patrons on a single day, marking the festival’s highest single-day attendance ever. Bourbon & Beyond was designated as the ‘Best Festival of 2024’ by the live entertainment industry. Louder than Life celebrated a 10-year milestone in Louisville in 2024.

"As we look forward to 2025, we are excited to welcome back some of the most iconic and impactful events to Louisville," said Cleo Battle, Louisville Tourism President & CEO. "The return of these major events not only highlights our city's ability to host world-class gatherings but also gives us a high-profile platform to showcase our city's unique charm to visitors from around the globe."

Louisville will also host several prominent sporting events in 2025 including the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup and Winter Classic, ACC Indoor Track & Field Championship and USA BMX Derby City Nationals.

While not among the Top 16 events by estimated economic impact, other strategic groups hosted in 2025 include Travel South USA Global Week, which will bring international media and southern travel public relations suppliers to explore Louisville. Additionally, meetings industry heavyweight Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) will hold its annual EdUcon conference, welcoming event planners, suppliers and destination marketing organizations to Bourbon City. Says Louisville Tourism’s Executive VP Doug Bennett, “Hosting meeting-industry conferences provides opportunities to showcase Louisville directly to decision-makers, potentially leading to future event bookings for the city.”

In addition to the strong Top 16 events, Louisville will build on a new, innovative partnership with 502 Film, helping Louisville capture additional market share throughout the robust film industry. Sundance officials named Louisville one of the top six finalists out of more than 90 applicants.

The Top 16 events* are projected (at this time) to have the largest estimated economic impact (EEI) for the Louisville area this year:

*Louisville’s Top 16 is in honor of the city’s namesake, French King, Louis XVI