LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentuckiana is experiencing another week of hot temperatures, with many days in the high 90s. The heat is already impacting high school sport practices and set up for this weekend's 22nd annual Worldfest at the Belvedere.
Employees at Enrique's Place, a travelling food vendor from south Florida, know about dealing with the heat all too well. They are setting up their spot and preparing for Worldfest. Projects Manager Bryan Enrique Quintero said it's been a sweltering day to set up, but it only gets hotter in the kitchen when the event kicks off and they fire up the grill.
"Actually when we're cooking and we're inside the booth, everything all the steam tables on, we have the grill on and the flat grill on all that vapor inside the tent, all that heat feels way hotter than what it normally is," Quintero said. "So if it's 100 degrees out there, inside it's literally like Hell's Kitchen."
The Enrique's Place team are focused on hydrating this entire week and plan to take turns switching positions when it's time to start cooking.
"When you come here you're invested in it," Quintero said. "It doesn't matter if it's rainy, it doesn't matter if it's sunny. You're money is invested and you got to try to get back what you put in."
The high temperatures are also a concern for outdoor sports like football.
On Monday, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) started asking schools to change their practice times.
"We do have the flexibility of have practices at different times," Dr. April Brooks, director of athletics and activities for JCPS, said. "As we are waiting for that sun to set and have it a little bit later. Or early morning practices are available for student athletes."
The school district is also using tools to help measure how hot it gets. Athletic trainers are using a special thermometer, and JCPS invested in pellets to scatter around the turf to help cool it down.
"Turf field can get pretty hot and melt cleats and things like that so we took the extra expense of adding the cooling beads in," Brooks said.
As sports schedules move around this week Worldfest is still set to kick off with a hot start this Friday.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said there will be emergency responders at the event and encourages attendees to bring water and stay hydrated.
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