Epic party kicks off legendary race
There’s bourbontasting LOUISVILLE, KY. and hot air balloons, fashion shows and fireworks, a belle and a ball, and the event that started it all, the Pegasus Parade. From the time the Kentucky Derby Festival starts in mid-April, the party doesn’t stop — not until the horses run for the roses on the first Saturday in May.
The Kentucky Derby lasts only two minutes, but the legendary race at Churchill Downs has spawned an extended celebration with more than 70 events drawing more than a million people to the Louisville area. Festival officials say it pours nearly $130 million annually into the economy.
“Louisville is the only city in the world that can take a two-minute horse race and turn it into a twoweek party with a two-month buildup,” said Mike Berry, president and CEO of the Kentucky Derby Festival.
The festival has come a long way since 1956, when four local leaders spent $648 to put on a parade.
“My grandmother used to tell me that what they would do to celebrate Derby was they’d go down to the train station and watch all the rich people and the celebrities come in at 10th and Broadway for Derby,” Berry said. “There was nothing for the community to do to celebrate this big sporting event at the racetrack. That’s where this idea was born by these four gentlemen.”
The first Pegasus Parade attracted 50,000 people, but the celebration it inspired keeps growing.
Now among the larger festivals in the nation, the Kentucky Derby Festival has won the International Festivals and Events Association’s highest award multiple times, organization president Steve Schmader said.
“They are, on a global stage, very well recognized for all they do,” he said. “The Kentucky Derby Festival never fails to stand out.”
Louisville police Lt. Jill Hume said law enforcement is “all hands on deck,” especially during events that draw big crowds. She said extra security measures are in place this year, including SWAT teams in full gear and earlier street closures.
The Derby party officially began April 21, with Thunder Over Louisville, which opened with military aircraft and stunt planes flying over crowds lining both sides of the Ohio River in the afternoon and closed with fireworks after sunset. First held in 1990, it can draw 700,000 people in good weather,
The fireworks and air show launched a two-week period of events all over the city, including hot air balloon races, bed races and a steamboat race featuring the Belle of Louisville, a minimarathon, free concerts, a bicycle tour, a pet-friendly cocktail party, a winefest, a beerfest and one of the newest additions, a zombie walk.
The run-up includes FamFest, a new event in southern Indiana that caters to families. At the inaugural Horseshoe Foundation FamFest last week, kids with painted faces led adults from one activity to another.
Berry said the mission of the festival has stayed the same over the years: to offer a variety of affordable attractions celebrating a world-class sporting event.