Nomadness Fest is Bringing Cultural and Conscious Travel Conversations to Louisville KY This September
With a themed focus on cultural and conscious travel, the award winning tourism community and brand, NOMADNESS Travel Tribe is bringing their annual festival to Louisville, Kentucky this fall. NOMADNESS Fest is the premiere tourism event centering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) experiences, resources, influencers, and industry leaders from across the globe. Louisville’s festival weekend takes place September 28–October 1, 2023.
Whether a novice to travel, an international expert, an operator working within the tourism industry, or an aspiring travel writer, NOMADNESS Fest programming has something for you within its three tracks: Leisure Travel, The Business of Travel, and Conscious Travel. This year’s theme of Cultural and Conscious Travel, spotlights conversations the tourism industry is having on an international scale. Panels include topics ranging from the state of diversity in tourism, travel 101 for newbies, wellness for communities of color, tourism’s effects on native land and local communities, as well as overtourism.
Speakers currently include the first Black woman to own and operate a hostel in the United States, Deidre Mathis of Wanderstay Hotels; climate advocate and activist Ashley Renne Nsonwu, Louisville Tourism President & CEO Cleo Battle; wellness advocate and Founder of the Curly, Curvy, Conscious movement, Shelah Marie; Jason Dunn, President of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals; Stephanie Jones of Blacks in Travel & Tourism, Christina Rice, Founder of OmNoire luxury retreats; author, outdoor experiences advocate and Founder of Outdoor Afro, Rue Mapp; Tourism RESET data analyst, Dr. Alana Dillett, and more to be announced soon.
NOMADNESS Fest will activate a number of venues and outdoor spaces in Louisville’s downtown area, including but not limited to, 21C, The Muhammad Ali Center, AC Nulu, and Paristown. One of the missions of the weekend is to give visitors and attendees a well rounded view of the city. This includes a day dedicated to various Louisville city tours, including the likes of The Roots 101 African American Museum. NOMADNESS has been working alongside Louisville Tourism’s Black Travel Advisory Committee (BTAC) to help spotlight tours and businesses to be featured throughout the weekend on their festival website and as part of the weekend itinerary.
This year’s festival is the culmination of a two year partnership between Louisville Tourism and NOMADNESS. The two entities have co-hosted activations in Chicago, Washington D.C., Newark NJ, and Atlanta since the summer of 2021–galvanizing hundreds of NOMADNESS members and BIPOC travelers alike. Louisville Tourism is the festival’s 2023 host sponsor.
“Welcoming the NOMADNESS Travel Tribe attendees to town not only positively impacts Louisville economically, but also helps our destination increase awareness surrounding Black travel and visitation as we strive to host a higher percentage of Black visitors annually,” said Cleo Battle, Louisville Tourism President and CEO. “We certainly look forward to helping NOMADNESS Fest attendees experience the city’s unique brand of Southern hospitality, iconic attractions and rich culinary scene.”
To apply as a vendor, or volunteer please use this link.
The festival on September 30th is open to all ages. For more information and tickets, please visit nomadnessfest.com.
About NOMADNESS Travel Tribe:
NOMADNESS Travel Tribe is an award winning online social community primarily for travelers of color. NOMADNESS was the first of its kind targeting Black and brown millennials. The group currently surpasses 30,000 international members, with over a dozen regional ambassadors.
In 2018, NOMADNESS Travel Tribe hosted their first annual festival for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) travelers, in Oakland, Ca.. NOMADNESS Fest is an immersive experience that celebrates and creates safe spaces for leisure travelers, travel influencers, tour operators, and tourism professionals of color. Following 2018, the event was executed in Memphis, Tn., and Newark, Nj. In 2023, our host city is Louisville, Ky.