The International Equestrian Festival Expo at the Lexington Center, running the same dates as the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, will aim at bringing those who attend competition at the Kentucky Horse Park during the WEG downtown once the day's activities are through.
"We look at this as a way to really showcase our signature horse industry and really drive economic development, when people are doing things other than watch the competitions at the show grounds. Ö A large part of (the visitors') experience is what happens when they are away from the competition site," said Kimberly Brown, co-founder of Horse Capital Productions they company putting on the expo.
Brown and her business partner Anne Buchanan said they hope to not only attract Games visitors and locals into the convention center during the duration of the Games, but to give local horse and hospitality-related businesses a way to connect to those in town.
"Part of it is being a conduit and a central point for local businesses to be able to interact with. If you have a local business or a restaurant or a tourist destination in this immediate or surrounding area, we really want to provide that conduit to link the tourists to the International Equestrian Festival and then beyond," Brown said.
The expo will run from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day of the Games and will showcase all aspects of the horse industry in the state beyond just equestrian events.
"People have certain expectations about Kentucky; you can't help it because it is the Bluegrass region and everyone thinks of it as the horse capital of the world. So people are thinking about the horses and seeing the Thoroughbred race horses, learning about racing, going to Churchill Downs, petting horses and being able to ride some horses," Buchanan said. "So that's what we wanted to do. The Games are focused on the eight (disciplines) and what we wanted to do was compliment the experience."
More information about the expo can be found at www.horsecapitalproductions.com.