NIBROC Festival kicks off today in downtown Corbin; Forcht Group and Forcht Bank named premier entertainment sponsors

Workers set and test a new ride, Speed XXL, which will make its debut at the NIBROC Festival.

NIBROC 2019 is here, and the four-day extravaganza of food, fun, entertainment and local goodwill kicks off tonight with a special deal for anyone that enjoys carnival rides.
Unlimited ride wristbands can be purchased starting at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday for just $10. Thursday through Saturday of the Festival, wristbands are $20.

NIBROC’s carnival will feature a new, thrilling ride this year called “Speed.” The towering 138-feet-tall behemoth will strike an imposing figure on the downtown landscape for the duration of the festival. The ride has two, long rotating arms. At the end of each arm hangs a gondola for four persons. The arm revolves at a speed of 13 rpm, in which the passenger experiences 3.5 G. About 240 people an hour can ride Speed.

“Paradise Amusements, our carnival provider for 50 years now, does a great job at our festival and I think people are really going to like Speed,” said Bruce Carpenter, Executive Director of the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is the main organizer of the festival.

The festival will officially kick off Thursday with vendors on Main Street. A full schedule of NIBROC activities and events is included as a special section in this week’s edition of the News Journal.

Downtown restaurants will be hosting things like trivia and live music on Thursday. Carpenter is encouraging everyone to enjoy all the activities on Main Street.

Also on Thursday, the annual NIBROC Parade will take place on Kentucky Ave. beginning at 7:00 p.m. Lineup will begin on Master Street at 6:00 p.m.
The NIBROC Volleyball Smash Tournament will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the lot at the corner of Depot and Gordon Streets.

Musical entertainment will be provided Friday night when Pistol Whip opens up on the Main Stage at 7:30 p.m. followed by pop and rock legend Rick Springfield at about 9:30 p.m.

Reserved seating for Friday’s show will be located on Monroe Street in front of the main stage. General seating area will be available along the entire parking lot area out from the front of the stage.

Speed XXL.

“Our corporate sponsors are the ones who have been generous enough to write checks for our musical entertainment, so we do have reserved seating for them, but there is still plenty of great viewing area for everyone,” Carpenter said. “We are encouraging everyone to bring lawn chairs and put them out in the open seating area to enjoy the show.”

“It should be a fantastic performance. Rick Springfield had a lot of hits and has a dynamic onstage personality,” he added. “It’s something you won’t want to miss.”

Forcht Group of Kentucky and Forcht Bank are the “Premier Sponsors” of NIBROC 2019. Carpenter said their donations to the festival made it possible to secure Springfield’s performance.

“All of our corporate sponsors are important to us and we very much appreciate their enthusiasm for the festival,” he said. “Forcht Group and Forcht Bank really went above and beyond this year because they believe in Corbin and they believe in NIBROC. On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, we really appreciate their contributions.”

The festival beer garden has been expanded this year to include Sanders Park and the entire musical entertainment viewing area inside very defined barriers. The beer garden will open daily at 5:00 p.m.

Also on Friday, the 11th Annual NIBROC/News Journal Cornhole Tournament will be played at the Wyatt’s Auto Wash lot next to the newspaper office. Onsite registration will start about 4:00 p.m. with the tournament beginning at 6:00 p.m.

The Fastest Kid in Town competitions will start at 7:00 p.m. on Laurel Ave. in front of First Baptist Church, followed by the traditional NIBROC 2-miler road race at 8:00 p.m. Onsite registration is available for both events.

The NIBROC Volleyball Tournament will continue starting at 6:00 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, The volleyball tournament starts early at 8:00 a.m. and will run until finished.

The NIBROC 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament will be held Saturday at the Corbin Recreation Center starting at noon. Onsite registration begins at 9:00 a.m.

The Hugh Harris Masonic Lodge will host a car show at Corbin City Hall beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Main Stage entertainment will start at 7:30 p.m. with Elvie Shane followed by Tyler Booth at 9:30 p.m.

Vendors will open each day of the festival at noon.

WCTT-FM and WKDP-FM has a full slate of special events and contests each day at NIBROC Park. Listing for those events can be found in the special NIBROC section.

Be on the lookout throughout the festival for “flash mob” performances by dancers from the Corbin Wellness Center’s Zumba class.

Entries from the NIBROC Photo Contest, sponsored by the Appalachian Photographic Society, will be displayed daily from 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. at You and Me Coffee and Tea on Main Street.