Back to the Red Mile! Railbird Music Festival is held on the infield of a horse racing track, pretty apropos for the location in Lexington, KY. This is the “hometown” show if you will for the guys and as usual we expect this will hold significant weight with the band.
We attended Railbid in 2023 and absolutely loved it. We have a local hook up for parking so our experience was less upsetting than others but through the grape vine we heard of long waits to leave and long walks to get to a spot to get an Uber. While we didn’t personally experience these situations we did find that leaving from where we parked was almost impossible given the amount of people walking and general traffic.
The Red Mile is located right in the middle of everything that happens in the city and even regular business traffic can be expected. We recommend getting there super early to avoid as much of this as you can. Railbird as a festival experience overall is amazing.
Last time we went there were ample merch booths and vendors. The vendors were far enough back that you weren’t in the way of others watching the concert when you were in line but also close enough that you didn’t miss any of the action. Its sprawling grounds allow for tons of fun as you can just hangout in the back if you’d like or make your way closer to the stage where people are also spread out. Be advised though, this festival is deceptive when it comes to crowd size.
The sprawling grounds with ample free space are an illusion the closer you get to the stages. This was one of the most packed crowds we’d ever been in as the night drew near and everyone was preparing for headlining sets. There are TONS of people who are there and it’s not until you’re trying to get close to the stage that you really get to see that. Railbird will be a festival we’ll attend anytime Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps are there given its location and how amazing the festival itself is.