LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The banks of the Ohio River were home to two very different music festivals on Saturday; the Beatles tribute Abbey Road on the River in Jeffersonville, and Jack Harlow's first edition of Gazebo Festival in Louisville.
"I knew from the second I saw the lineup I wanted to buy a ticket," Mason Goldstein said, who drove down from Bloomington, Ind. to Gazebo Fest. "I saw SZA and Omar Apollo and I said, 'This is for me.'"
Gazebo Festival is a hop hop, rap and R&B Festival that will draw 40,000 people to Waterfront Park this weekend. There are two stages, a garden area with ping pong and chess, a Jim Beam tent, and 13 local food vendors.
"It's a lot of courtesy in there. It's a lot of love. So, there's not gonna be any hooting and hollering, no rushing, no fighting. We're here for a good time, and that's what it's gonna be tonight," Beanz Brents said, a Louisville native at the festival.
Some of the other big names at Gazebo are James Blake, Pink Panthers, Majid Jordan and Vince Staples. With Forecastle taking a year off this year, many people were thankful to have a new festival. Some were even hoping for both festivals in 2025.
One dollar from every ticket will be going to the Jack Harlow foundation, which supports several Louisville nonprofits.
"He's done a lot for the for the city, help put the city on the map," Detrick Williams said, a Louisville local at the festival.
Across the river in Jeffersonville, it was the 23rd year of Abbey Road on the River.
"The bands really become each others biggest fans. So, when they're done with their set they might go and check out other bands. We all are kind of like a big family here, bonded by our love of the Beatles," Ali Hawthorne said, a spokesperson for the event.
This festival has 50 bands doing a total of 200 performances over five days. The bands all play several Beatles songs, also tributes to bands like Wings, the Eagles, and more.
"Yesterday was a great tribute band to the Eagles. Which was the first album we bought in 1974," Wendy Bledsoe said, who also drove down from Bloomington but for Abbey Road.
One band at the festival is The Cyrkle, which toured with the Beatles in 1966.
Abbey Road is at Big Four Station in Jeffersonville and brings an estimated $1 million to the area. Tickets are also still available for Monday.
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