Kentucky Symphony Orchestra rolls out Rare Bourbon Raffle to fund free concerts

By AI, Created 4:25 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra will hold its annual Rare Bourbon Raffle on May 30 to support free summer park concerts and school education concerts across Northern Kentucky. The fundraiser includes limited-ticket drawings for rare Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and other hard-to-find bourbons.

Why it matters: - The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra’s bourbon raffle helps pay for free concerts for students, families and park audiences across Northern Kentucky. - The fundraiser supports five free education concerts for 261 regional schools and six free, family-friendly summer park concerts. - The orchestra says the concerts reach attendees from 231 zip codes in 2026.

What happened: - The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra will hold its annual Rare Bourbon Raffle on Saturday, May 30, 2026. - The event is designed to fund free concerts in Devou and Tower Parks from July through September. - The Party Source donated a 5-bottle set of Old Rip & Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon, a 6-bottle set of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and 29 additional rare bourbons for the fundraiser.

The details: - The first raffle offers a 5-bottle Old Rip & Pappy Van Winkle vertical flight for $100 per chance, with tickets limited to 700. - The September 2025 release yielded fewer 20-year bottles, and the full vertical flight remains hard to find in 2026. - One winner will receive all five bottles in that raffle. - The second raffle features the 6-bottle Buffalo Trace Antique Collection for $50 per chance, with tickets limited to 900. - The bottles in that set are George T. Stagg (15 years), Sazerac Rye (18 years), W.L. Weller (12 years), Col. E.H. Taylor (15 years), T.H. Handy (6 years) and Eagle Rare (18 years). - The third raffle is the KSO’s 20 Bourbons / 20 Winners drawing. - That raffle includes King of Kentucky (17 years), Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon (12 years), Heaven Hill Heritage Collection (22 years) and Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Strength (14 years), plus 25 more bourbons. - Tickets for the 20/20 raffle are $25 each and limited to 1,200. - One ticket will be drawn for each of the 20 bourbons or lots, giving each ticket 20 chances to win. - Tickets are available at the bourbon raffle page. - The drawing will be live-streamed on the KSO website and on Facebook Live starting at 9:00 p.m. on May 30, 2026. - Ticket sales end at 4 p.m. or when tickets sell out. - Winners do not need to be present. - Winners will be notified by email and receive instructions for picking up their bourbon prize. - The raffle is conducted under Northern Kentucky Symphony, Inc. Charitable Gaming License #2704.

Between the lines: - The raffle uses limited ticket counts and high-demand bourbons to improve odds and create urgency for buyers. - The donation-heavy format gives the orchestra a way to fund free programming without ticket sales from concerts alone. - The mix of prestige bottles and multiple winner pools is built to appeal to collectors and casual bourbon fans.

What’s next: - Ticket sales continue until 4 p.m. on May 30 or until each raffle sells out. - The KSO will announce winners after the live-streamed drawing and provide pickup instructions by email. - The resulting funds are expected to support summer park concerts and school education concerts later in 2026.