Lexington’s Ultimate Fall Guide for 2022
“Soon after, I returned home to my family, with a determination to bring them as soon as possible to live in Kentucky, which I esteemed a second paradise, at the risk of my life and fortune.”
—Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone put it best when he said, “Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place,” and nowhere is that more evident than during Fall in the Bluegrass (unless maybe it’s Spring in the Bluegrass).
For 33 years, Ace Magazine has celebrated our region’s autumnal glory with our annual Fall Guide — that time of year when we might enjoy the extremes of Summer, Fall, and Winter all in the span of one day — that time of year when we don’t have to choose between football, basketball, or horses because there’s ample time to enjoy all three.
*As always, times and dates are subject to change. Confirm with the venue.
ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, EVENTS
SEP 10 Waveland Art Fair, Waveland State Historic Site
SEP 10 Lexington Comic Con’s Fall Fan Fest
SEP 10 Doggie Paddle, Woodland Park
SEP 16 Gallery Hop, participating galleries/studios
SEP 16 Opening Reception, Missy Johnston: A Fitting Retrospective, Transy
SEP 18 NATURE HOP
SEP 24 Closing Reception for Art by Nature: Front Yard Friends, Loudon House
OCT 6 Marlene McCarty UK Art Museum Panel Discussion
OCT 15 Lexington’s $20 Art Market, Greyline Station
NOV 18 Gallery Hop, participating galleries/studios
NOV 18 Closing Reception, Mnemonic Devices, Transy, Morlan Gallery
The Art by Nature: Front Yard Friends showcase features local artists’ depictions of front yards from around Fayette County, with more than 30 unique works. Drop by during Gallery Hop on Friday Sep 16 at the Lexington Art League. 
The Loudoun House is considered one of the largest and finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the state. Designed by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis, the house was built in 1851 for Francis Key Hunt, who was named after his mother’s cousin, Francis Scott Key.
Nature Hop is back! The 2022 event will be held on Sunday, September 18. (Rain date: Sunday, September 25) A free showing of Ant-Man will kick off Nature Hop in Shillito Park on Saturday, September 17.
Nature Hop is focused on getting people outside to enjoy the variety of green spaces found throughout Fayette County and to experience these spaces in new ways. Nature Hop events will take place in one of four time slots, allowing participants to attend multiple events throughout the day. Time slots will be at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
COMEDY
SEP 3 Chico Bean Labor Day Weekend Comedy Jam, UK Singletary Center
SEP 14 Nurse Blake, Lexington Opera House
SEP 29 Bill Burr, KFC Yum, Louisville
OCT 1 Amanda Seales, Louisville Palace
OCT 20 Seinfeld, EKU
NOV 4 Kevin Hart, KFC Yum, Louisville
NOV 10 Nate Bargatze, Kentucky Center, Louisville
DEC 4 Brian Regan, Kentucky Center, Louisville
EAT AND DRINK
“I was brought up to believe that Scotch whisky would need a tax preference to survive in competition with Kentucky bourbon.”
—Hugo Black
SEP 15-18 Bourbon & Beyond, Louisville
SEP 15 Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bardstown
SEP 16 Berea Spoonbread Festival
SEP 22 World Chicken Festival, London
SEP 23 Ham Days, Lebanon KY
SEP 25 Burgers and Beats, Frankfort (benefiting Glean KY)
OCT 1 Bourbon on the Banks, Frankfort 
OCT 4 Master Chef Junior, Lexington Opera House
September is National Bourbon Month.
LIT
SEP 16 Carnegie Center Turns 30 
SEP 23 Nicholas Sparks signs Dreamland, Joseph Beth Booksellers
SEP 27 Silas House book launch, Lark Ascending, Joseph Beth Booksellers
SEP 29 KY Author Forum, Josh Chin with Evan Osnos, Kentucky Center, Louisville
OCT 1 Ed McClanahan Memorial, Carnegie Center
OCT 29 Kentucky Book Festival
NOV 10 US Poet Laureate Ada Limón reading, Transylvania University
SALONS
Moveable Feast’s popular September Salon Series returns for Fall 2022. On three Sundays in September, hosts will open their architecturally significant homes to celebrate art, music, and literature all while supporting the mission of Moveable Feast. Each 
event will be uniquely styled with entertainment, food, drinks, and up-close encounters with the arts. All salons are scheduled from 2:30 pm-5:00 pm. Attendance will be kept to small numbers to help ensure a unique experience. Admission is $95 per event or a pass to all three is $245.00.
SEP 11, 2022
The home of Jeffrey Gillispie and Lukas Murphy is a short drive back in time to 1790. Meadowstone Hall is one of the greatest restorations in Central Kentucky.
Painstakingly rebuilt and saved from the brink, this home is filled with the passions of eclectic, eccentric collectors. Two portfolios of circus images by John Stephen Hockensmith and Loomas Dean will be presented, with musical guest Sam Gleaves.
SEP 18 2022
Jim Gray and Eric Orr will host the art of Lawrence Tarpey in Gratz Park, along with a curator’s talk by Stuart Horodner and Leah Kolb.
SEP 25, 2022
Lucy Jones has spent the past 18 months lovingly restoring a 1966 mid-century modern ranch in Gardenside. Musical guest is Keith McCutchen, featured artist is Diane Kahlo, and Chef Samantha Fore’s menu will reflect her Sri Lankan upbringing in the American South.
STAGE/THEATER
SEP 8 Studio Players: It Runs in the Family
SEP 30 UK Opera, The Magic Flute, Lexington Opera House
OCT 18 Fiddler on the Roof, Kentucky Center, Louisville
OCT 21 Tootsie, Lexington Opera House
NOV 3 Annie, Lexington Opera House
NOV 17 Studio Players: Scrooge in Rouge
FAIRS + FESTS
SEP 3 Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival, Winchester
SEP 9 Roots and Heritage Festival
SEP 9 Festival of the Horse, Georgetown
SEP 9 Christ the King’s Oktoberfest
SEP 10 St. Andrew Heritage Festival
SEP 17 Midway Fall Festival
SEP 24 Twilight Festival, Woodford County / Versailles
SEP 30 Festival Latino de Lexington
OCT 1 Oktoberfest, Harrodsburg
HOLIDAYS
TBA Pumpkinmania at Transy
OCT 22 Halloween and Thriller Parade
NOV 12 Veterans Festival, Masterson Station Park
NOV 11 Junior League’s Holly Day Market
NOV 12 Holiday Marketplace, Providence Christian Church
NOV 12 Titan Holiday Craft and Vendor Fair, Georgetown
Lexington Junior League’s Holly Day Market brings vendors from across the country together November 11-13, 2022 at the Lexington Center, for a weekend to give shoppers the opportunity to buy holiday gifts in one spectacular location. Vendors sell jewelry; clothes for women, men and children; toys; books; holiday decorations; ornaments; art; food; and much more.
HOME AND GARDEN
SEP-OCT Grand Tour of Homes
The Grand Tour of Homes is a FREE self-guided home tour and is scheduled for two fall weekends: Sep 24 and Sep 25; and Oct 1 and Oct 2. 
You may visit as many or as few homes as you like during the tour dates. Builders and/or Marketing Representatives will be on hand at each property to answer questions and tell you about their projects.
HORSE
“A bit like Cuba’s, Kentucky’s economy depends almost entirely on things that are good for you but are said to be bad for you: Cuba has sugar, rum and tobacco; and Kentucky has bourbon, tobacco, and horse racing. When you see the Derby run on TV, the cameras linger on opulence in hats and horseflesh, and the farms often look like rolling feudal estates, but if you go to Keeneland [sic] racetrack at Lexington you see…real, popular participation in the sport of kings.”
—Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair Magazine
SEP Live Racing, Red Mile (thru Oct 9)
SEP 2 KHP Foundation Battle in the Saddle, KY Horse Park
SEP 9 Festival of the Horse, Georgetown
SEP 12 Keeneland’s September Yearling Sales begin
SEP 22 Iroquois Fall Hunter Pace, Iroquois Hunter Pace
OCT 7 Keeneland Fall Meet begins
OCT 8 CKRH Annual Tack Sale
OCT 26 National Horse Show, KY Horse Park
NOV 4 Breeders Cup, Keeneland
LIVE MUSIC
Jazz on the Lawn
The Henry Clay Memorial Foundation invites the public to its annual Jazz on the Lawn concert on Sunday, September 4th from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. It has been two years since the last concert in 2019; the outbreak of COVID-19 derailed 2020 and its resurgence in 2021 caused the Foundation to cancel this great community event.
This ever-popular concert takes place on the back lawn of the mansion, where guests are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics. Lee Carroll’s C The Beat will once again provide the evening’s entertainment. Special guests this year are the emerging artists, The Wallace Sisters, from Lexington. Parking at Ashland will be $10.
The Ashland estate is located at 120 Sycamore Road in Lexington.
CONCERTS, TOURS, MUSIC FESTIVALS
SEP 3 The Black Keys, Riverbend (Cinci)
SEP 6 Backstreet Boys, Rupp Arena
SEP 9 Alan Jackson, Rupp
SEP 9 Smashmouth at Christ the King’s Oktoberfest
SEP 10 The Fixx, Lexington Opera House
SEP 15 Christopher Cross, Lexington Opera House
SEP 15 Here Come the Mummies, Manchester Music Hall
SEP 15-18 Bourbon & Beyond, Louisville
SEP 17 Kentucky Heritage Jazz Festival, Harrodsburg
SEP 20 Leo Kottke, Lyric Theatre
SEP 21 Trombone Shorty, Lexington Opera House
SEP 22-25 Louder than Life, Louisville
SEP 25 Tahlsound, Southland Drive
OCT 6 Keith Urban, Rupp Arena
OCT 14 Southern Culture on the Skids, The Burl
OCT 16 Ryan Adams, Louisville Palace
OCT 20 Carrie Underwood, Rupp Arena
OCT 22 Jeff Beck, Louisville Palace
OCT 23 Zach Williams, EKU
OCT 27 Mary J. Blige, Heritage Bank Center
OCT 29 The Judds, Rupp Arena
OCT 20 Marty Stuart, The Grand, Frankfort
OCT 29 My Morning Jacket, KFC Yum, Louisville
DEC 3 Casting Crowns
DEC 14 Bela Fleck, Kentucky Center, Louisville
At the MOVIES
Marvelous Movies
Parks and Rec’s newest movie series features movie from the Marvel Universe. Dress up, bring a picnic. The movie will begin at dark, around 7:30 p.m. There will also be a kid’s costume contest with trophies awarded each week. Seating is first come, first serve. Bring a blanket. Food, drink, and dessert trucks will be available, but feel free to bring your own picnic. No tents. No drones.
SEP 10 Black Panther, Shillito Park
SEP 17 Ant-Man, Nature Hop Kickoff, Shillito Park
Freaky Flicks
Put a little fright in your night with the return of Lexington’s free Freaky Flicks movie series. Enjoy fun, family-friendly, spine-chilling films to get you Spooky Season ready. Pre-show activities will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a Monster Mash dance party. The movie will begin at dark, around 7:30 p.m. There will also be a kid’s costume contest with trophies awarded each week. Seating is first come, first serve. Bring a blanket. Food, drink, and dessert trucks will be available, but feel free to bring your own picnic. No tents. No drones.
OCT 1 Hocus Pocus, Masterson Station
OCT 8 Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Moondance at Beaumont
OCT 15 Addams Family Values, Moondance at Beaumont
SPORTS & ATHLETICS
Tailgating returns to the Bluegrass, with Keeneland and UK Basketball right around the corner.
UK Football
SEP 3 Miami University at UK
SEP 10 University of Florida at Gainesville
SEP 17 Youngstown State at UK
SEP 24 Northern Illinois at UK
OCT 1 Ole Miss, at Oxford
OCT 8 Univ South Carolina at UK
OCT 15 Mississippi State at UK
OCT 29 UT at Knoxville
NOV 5 University of Missouri at Columbia MO
NOV 12 Vanderbilt at UK
NOV 19 Univ of Georgia at UK
NOV 26 U of L at UK
UK BASKETBALL
TBA Big Blue Madness, Rupp Arena
RUN FOR IT
SEP 30 Bourbon Chase, Clermont to Lexington
OCT 8 Jim Beam’s Urban Bourbon Half Marathon (Louisville)
OCT 15 Iron Horse Half Marathon, Midway
OCT 15 “Yes, Mamm” 5k, Nicholasville
OCT 22 Kentucky History Half Marathon, Frankfort
2022 General ELECTION DATE REMINDERS
Don’t Forget to Vote!
OCT 11 Voter Registration Deadline, 4 pm
NOV 8 In-Person Polls Open, 6 am to 6 pm
Lexington’s 2022 Fall Guide also appears in the September 2022 print edition of Ace Magazine, Lexington’s original citywide magazine.
