Pawpaw Festival 2026

A community celebration of this native fruit, including tastings, trees for sale, guided hikes, live music, and more.
About this Event

Join the Louisville Nature Center for our Fourth Annual Pawpaw Festival. Over 25 vendors will be on site to share the wonders of the pawpaw with our community. Here's just a sample of what's in store:

• Nab some pawpaw merch from the Louisville Nature Center and Hang Loose Pawpaw
• Learn to write in Braille + navigate our Braille Trail with the Louisville School for the Blind
• Listen to live bluegrass music
• Take a guided hike through our forest preserve, which is teeming with pawpaws
• Peruse local vendors, including raw honey, handmade pottery, beeswax candles, and much more

You'll also be able to drink pawpaw Ale-8-One and a pawpaw beer from Ten20, eat raw pawpaw, try pawpaw ice cream, and bring home a pawpaw tree of your very own. Did we mention there'd be pawpaws?

Entry to Pawpaw Festival is a $10 suggested donation.

Parking

Pawpaw Festival attendees are encouraged to carpool or use alternate transportation if at all possible, as parking is limited. Louisville Nature Center can be accessed from Poplar Level Rd. on TARC bus route #20.

Parking is NOT allowed on neighborhood streets. Only attendees with mobility issues will be allowed to park in the LNC lot. ALL OTHER VISITORS MUST PARK IN THE DESIGNATED LOTS:

1. The overflow lot of the Louisville Tennis Center. (NOT the lot adjacent to the building.)
2. The lot between Creason Park and the Louisville Tennis Center.
3. Holy Family Church, as close to Mercer Ave. as possible. (Enter the lot from Mercer Ave., directly across Poplar Level Rd. from Kroger.)