More Than A Dozen Ways to Celebrate The Great Gatsby's 100th Anniversary in Louisville
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby will turn 100 years old on April 10, 2025, and local Louisville businesses are gearing up to celebrate the city’s ties to the classic American novel with a dozen different events, tours, and exhibits set to take place this Spring.
STAY
Seelbach Hilton Hotel | 500 S. 4th St.
Built in 1905, the Seelbach Hotel is Louisville’s most historic property and will take you back in time to the roaring 20s. During his time in Louisville, F. Scott Fitzgerald frequented the hotel, where he was said to have been influenced by its grandeur and the high-society atmosphere. The Seelbach's opulent Grand Ballroom was even penned as the location of Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s lavish wedding. The hotel recently unveiled a new Great Gatsby Suite, giving guests a peak into the colliding worlds of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan.
EVENTS
April 10, 2025
Gatsby’s Secret Stash: A Bourbon Tasting Event
Evan Williams Bourbon Experience | 528 W. Main St.
6:30PM – 8PM
Guess the secret password and step back in time to a 1920s-style speakeasy. Once inside, an F. Scott Fitzgerald expert will take you on a journey through the author's life and discuss the city’s rich whiskey-making heritage. Sip on a classic cocktail and immerse yourself in 1920s sounds while enjoying a guided tasting of select products from Heaven Hill Distillery's award-winning portfolio. Every guest will receive a gift bag and have the opportunity to shop exclusive bottlings. All attendees must be 21 or older.
April 13, 2025
World Ballet Company: The Great Gatsby
Louisville Palace Theatre | 625 S. 4th St.
6PM – 8PM
Step into the jazzy world of the Roaring Twenties with this new production of the World Ballet Company. See the glitz, glamor, and tragic romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless novel live on stage, featuring a multinational cast of 40 professional ballet dancers, an all-star creative team, lustrous hand-crafted costumes, and lavish, groundbreaking sets. The original score evokes the energy and atmosphere of the 1920s.
April 18, 2025
After Hours at the Speed
Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. 3rd St.
5PM – 9PM
Visit the Speed Art Museum for an evening of art, music and literary brilliance and the glamour of The Great Gatsby. Create your own work of art, capture the moment with a vintage-style River City Tintype portrait, and explore the world of American women artists in Paris on a curator-led tour. Enjoy a special reading and book signing by Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, embrace Parisian culture with the Alliance Française de Louisville and soak in some jazz-infused energy with a live performance by Jane’s Jazz Addiction.
April 26, 2025
Opening Night powered by LG&E and KU in partnership with Louisville Tourism – The Great Gatsby, A Louisville Legacy
Churchill Downs Racetrack | 700 Central Ave.
Gates open at 4PM, first race at 5PM and last race at 10PM
Celebrate the 151st Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks post-position draws with a lavish twist that channels the spirit of the Roaring Twenties with a Great Gatsby-inspired evening. The Great Gatsby on Broadway star and Louisville native Kayla Pecchioni will be in attendance for a special performance at the iconic Pagoda. Guests are encouraged to dress in their finest 1920s attire for a Derby Week fashion contest. And Old Forester will feature a special cocktail, available at select locations, delivering the balance of sweetness and sophistication in the spirit of the 1920s.
May 17, 2025
The Great Gatsby (2013)
Speed Art Museum, Cinema | 2035 S. 3rd St.
Doors open 11AM, 12PM – 2:30PM Screening
Sip on a Gatsby-inspired cocktail from the cash bar before heading into the 142-seat cinema for a special screening of Director Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 version of the iconic tale, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton and Tobey Maguire.
May 30, 2025
Speakeasy on the Belle
Belle of Louisville Riverboats | 401 W. River Rd.
7PM – 9PM
Celebrate Great Gatsby style on an authentic steamboat and shimmy the night away to live jazz and swing music on this prohibition-themed cruise. With a cocktail class, a costume contest, dance lessons, and more, this two-hour cruise will transport you back to 1920s Louisville. Zoot suits and flapper dresses are encouraged but not required. For ages 21 and over.
June 18, 2025
Gatsby at the Gardens
Waterfront Botanical Gardens | 1435 Frankfort Ave.
6PM – 8PM
Slip into your finest flapper fringe or dapper duds for a Great Gatsby garden party at Waterfront Botanical Gardens. Stroll the grounds, enjoy delectable bites, sip on swanky cocktails from the cash bar, and dance the night away to the sounds of live jazz music. The drinks are cold, the jazz is hot, and the Gardens are calling.
TOURS
Seelbach Hotel Historic Tour
Weekly, Thursday – Saturday, 4:30PM & 6:30PM
Seelbach Hilton Hotel | 500 S. 4th St.
Take in the 120-year history on a free walking tour of the historic Seelbach Hotel. Led by Historian Larry Johnson, hear the legendary stories of the people that have visited the property over the past century and explore the spaces that make the Seelbach one of the most unique and historic hotels in the country. From Presidents to mobsters to a wedding in The Great Gatsby, this hour-long tour will take you back to the roaring 20s, showcasing the hotel's unique history and architectural beauty. The tour starts in the hotel lobby. No reservations required.
Phantoms of the Prohibition: Ghosts, Cocktails, Bites Walking Food Tour
Weekly, Tuesday – Friday, 5PM – 8PM
Louisville Food Tours
Join Louisville Food Tours to explore the hidden stories of Louisville’s haunted past. As you eat and drink your way down Whiskey Row, you’ll meet the resident ghosts of Louisville’s historic downtown, trace the footsteps of bourbon magnates and mobsters, see Al Capone’s secret getaway, uncover the Louisville origins of the Great Gatsby, discover hidden speakeasies, and learn the shocking truth about Prohibition.
Old Louisville in the Time of F. Scott-Fitzgerald
May 8, 2025 (6PM), June 14, 2025 (10AM)
Louisville Free Public Library | Tour departs from 1340 S. 4th St.
For the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Great Gatsby, the Louisville Free Public Library invites guests to enjoy a stroll through Old Louisville to see the grand architecture that was prominent during F. Scott-Fitzgerald’s time in the city. Learn to recognize the differences between a 19th Century Richardsonian Romanesque and 20th century Colonial Revival as you walk the perimeter of historic Central Park. To register for the free tour, please contact kaira.tucker@lfpl.org
or (502) 574-1649.
EXHIBITS
Ongoing Exhibit
See & Be Seen: 150 Years of Derby Fashion
Kentucky Derby Museum | 704 Central Ave.
Fashion has been tightly woven into the fabric of the Kentucky Derby’s history and culture over the past 150 years. From daring dresses to glamorous hats and sharp suits, Churchill Downs was a fashion runway during the Roaring Twenties and a place to be seen. This Kentucky Derby Museum exhibit houses historic ensembles that give a glimpse into the past and what horse racing fans may have worn to the historic racetrack in the 1920s.
March 29 – June 22, 2025
Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900 – 1939
Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. 3rd St.
Brilliant Exiles features more than 65 artworks across various media to tell the extraordinary stories of American women who left the constraints of early 20th-century America to pursue artistic and professional ambitions in Paris. In 1924 while writing Gatsby, Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, spent time in Paris, which was an epicenter of modernism due to its thriving literary and artistic scene. Zelda immersed herself in the vibrant artistic scene, and her painting, Ballerinas (c. 1933) is included in the Brilliant Exiles exhibition. The Speed Art Museum is the first and one of only two museums in 2025 to host the exhibition outside of Washington D.C., where it is currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
Ongoing Exhibit
Spirit of Kentucky Speakeasy
Frazier History Museum | 829 W. Main St.
Discover the Frazier History Museum’s very own Speakeasy hidden within the bottle hall in the Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition. You won’t need a special knock or password to get inside. Speakeasies were prominent during the Prohibition era, a period when the sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in the United States, and the same time frame that The Great Gatsby novel was set. These secret bars did their best to skirt the law. The immersive Speakeasy set in the Roaring Twenties features fashion, objects, and the legendary names and their stories highlighting the culture of the 1920s. You can even sit in a booth alongside Al Capone.
Discover more about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gatsby's Louisville, here.
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