GonzoFest celebrates Louisville's weird side

A swirl of color, sound, smell and counter-cultural sentiment defined the sensory overload that was GonzoFest on Saturday afternoon. Now in its 5th year, the growing annual event moved its location this year to the Big Four Lawn at Louisville's Waterfront Park.

The late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was a Louisville born writer that rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s as a freelance journalist for publications like Rolling Stone and is credited with starting the "Gonzo" journalism movement that mixes personal observations—with a revolutionary vibe—alongside traditional reporting.

Local poet Ron Whitehead, a friend of the late Dr. Thompson, served again as emcee of the day's events reading some of his work between a flurry of performers and bands throughout the day. Mayor Greg Fischer arrived to bestow more honors upon the festival and congratulate its organizers for another successful year of celebrating the weirder side of Louisville and honoring one of its best known writers.

A miniaturized sculpture of Hunter S. Thompson was also on display in a tent manned by its creator Matt Weir. The statue has yet to find an eventual location for it with both the Highlands and Waterfront Park as possible landing spots. The statue is based on a picture of Thompson draped in an American flag and wearing a wig.