Owensboro Burger Week
In March 2021, Visit Owensboro hosted the first Burger Week to encourage residents to support local restaurants. 24 restaurants in the area created
a burger especially for this week, and all burgers were sold for $6.00. Sponsors made prizes possible for individuals who posted on social media about participating in Burger Week. Restaurants sold 11,606 featured burgers and generated $70,000 over the course of the five-day event. The successful event happened again in 2022 with 34 restaurants selling
burgers for $7, over 16,000 burgers sold, and more than $100,000 generated.
Festivals and Events
ROMP Festival, hosted by the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, usually brings about 25,000 people to Daviess County each year and between $1.6 million and $2.2 million to the local economy. This event is 15 percent of the museum’s annual
operating budget. It was one of many events to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 26th Reenactment of the Battle of Sacramento was also cancelled, along with fundraisers leading up to the event, which usually brings about $22,000 to the local economy
Cancelled Events
Beaver Dam Amphitheatre
A Casting Crowns concert took place at the amphitheater in 2020, but other events that season were held as socially distant drive-ins. The same social distancing model practiced at the Casting Crowns concert was used for the 2021 season. Spectators were seated by family group based on time of arrival at the venue. There were temperature checks at the entrance.
Ellis Park
Ellis Park in Henderson has long served as a tourist draw to the area. The horse racing track used the COVID shutdown period to renovate, update, and expand. It also adapted to the virtual age. In 2021, it was announced that Ellis Park would expand to
Owensboro into vacant space in the Towne Square Mall.