Clark nabs spots on ‘99 Days’ in Ky. list

Published 10:53 am Wednesday, June 7, 2017

The Kentucky Department of Tourism recently released its list for the 99 days of summer, and two of those are in Winchester.

The first, the ninth annual Beer Cheese Festival, is Saturday in downtown Winchester. The other is a tour of the Ale-8-One facility. On the state’s calendar, it’s an item for Aug. 10.

Winchester-Clark County Tourism Commission Director Nancy Turner said Clark County’s addition feeds the trend of food-related tourism stops.

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“The state’s starting really to aggressively promote Ale-8 and beer cheese as part of culinary tourism,” Turner said. “They’re looking for interesting things you can do in your back yard, day trips to take with kids while they’re out of school.”

Winchester’s Beer Cheese Trail has been attracting scores of visitors as well. So far, people from 27 states have completed the trail, Turner said.

“Over the course of the last few years, beer cheese and Ale-8 have become tourism destinations,” Turner said.

According to the press release, this is the second year of the “99 Things” list. It also lists several things from neighboring counties, as well as across the state.

“It was a really nice surprise,” Turner said. “It’s always good to be noticed at the state level for (local attractions) we know about.”

Main Street Winchester Executive Director Rachel Alexander was surprised by the festival’s inclusion as well.

“To be singled out is really special,” she said. “We’re happy to be named. There are lots of great things to do every weekend in Kentucky.”

The list includes something for each day from Memorial Day through Labor Day in September. To view the full list, go to http://www.kentuckytourism.com/99days/.

About Fred Petke

Fred Petke is a reporter for The Winchester Sun, the Jessamine Journal and the State Journal. His beats include cops, courts, fire, public records, city and county government and other news. To contact Fred, email fred.petke@bluegrassnewsmedia.com or call 859-759-0051.

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