LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 6, 2015) — The Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA) will host the 7th Annual Buy Local Fair on Sunday, May 17, from 12-6 p.m. at The Louisville Water Tower Park. Admission is free and parking is $5 per vehicle, or free for bicycle parking. 

The fair will feature a marketplace of more than 180 booths from local businesses, musicians, artist and craftspeople, chefs, community organizations, and farmers. The event will also include a craft beer tent sponsored by ValuMarket, 14 food trucks, two cooking competitions, a silent auction area, and the H2O Kid’s Zone sponsored by Louisville Water Company.

This year’s cooking competitions include the Fleur de Lis Food Fight featuring a showdown between defending champion Sous Chef Cody Stone from Decca and Sous Chef James Moran from Seviche. The chefs will be given a basket of mystery ingredients and they’ll have 30 minutes to create a dish for a panel of judges. The Iron Shroom competition, sponsored by Magnificent Mushrooms, will challenge Josh Lehman of Holy Grale and Jonathan Exum of Wiltshire on Market to see who can create the most magnificent mushroom dish on the spot.

New to the event this year is The Back Porch, an area located on the back patio of the Louisville Water Tower with beautiful river views. This area is geared towards the grown-ups and will offer a place to relax in handmade patio furniture from Amish Hills and to enjoy bourbon, brandy and cigars available for purchase.

The mission of the Buy Local Fair is to provide a venue that fosters cooperation, cross-pollination and strength in numbers for locally-owned, independent entities. By bringing together customers of various businesses, farms, craftspeople and bands unique to the Louisville-area, we expose a variety of endeavors to new audiences and increase business for all.

The 2015 Buy Local Fair Sponsors are Louisville Metro Council, Amish Hills Furniture, DMLO CPAs, Eclipse Bank, Rainbow Blossom Natural Food Markets, VO2 Multisport, ValuMarket, Carmichael’s Bookstore, Louisville Water Co., Louisville Magazine, Louisville.com, Louisville Public Media, LEO Weekly, The Trend Appliances, Oak Street Productions, YELP Louisville, Maloney Outdoor Advertising and Heaven Hill Brands.

About the Louisville Independent Business Alliance

Celebrating 10 Years of Weird in 2015, LIBA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve the unique community character of the Metro Louisville area by promoting locally-owned businesses and to educate citizens on the value of buying locally. For more information about LIBA, visit keeplouisvilleweird.com.