Kentucky Derby Festival

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The Kentucky Derby Festival is an annual festival held in Louisville, Kentucky during the two weeks preceding the first Saturday in May, the day of the Kentucky Derby. The festival, Kentucky's largest single annual event, first ran from 1935-1937, and re-started in 1956^[1] and includes:

the Great Balloon Race;
the Great Steamboat Race (featuring the Belle of Louisville);
the Pegasus Parade (one of the largest parades in the United States); and
the Derby Marathon and mini-Marathon.

1 History
2 Official events
3 Derby cruising
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The Kentucky Derby Festival Association started the first week-long festival in 1935, including a parade, a riverfront regatta and an orchestral concert. The first director was Olympic gold medallist Arnold Jackson. In 1937, a Derby Festival king and queen were crowned, marking the start of this tradition. After the floods of 1937, the festival was discontinued and it was not until 1956 when the modern-day Kentucky Derby Festival was reborn.

[edit] Official events

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In early spring, a Derby Festival Queen and a court of Derby Princesses are selected, typically from various Kentucky colleges. This Royal Court attends official Derby functions to promote the events and graces a featured float in the Pegasus Parade.

The festival's first major event is Thunder Over Louisville, the largest fireworks display in the U.S. and rated as one of the top 100 events in North America.^{[citation needed]} Thunder day begins with a top five air show performing for hours for the crowds of hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the banks of the Ohio River, viewing from inside the city's business district windows and from many boats anchored in the river's current. When night falls, Thunder begins and the crowds' long hours of waiting are rewarded. For thirty spectacular minutes music booms in synchronization to masses of fireworks exploding in the sky and cascading in a waterfall of light from a bridge. The beauty of the show is magnified by the reflections in the river below. Since 1991, Thunder Over Louisville's fireworks have been designed and performed by Zambelli Fireworks International, proudly known as the "First Family of Fireworks".

The Great Balloon Race is a balloon flight contest.

Each year, an official Derby Festival poster is unveiled and prints are sold to help finance festival events. Artists and photographers who have, over the years, produced the prized posters include Peter Max and Michael Schwab.

Events vary somewhat from year to year but always include numerous athletic events, concerts, fashion shows, wine tastings, luncheons and private parties ranging from backyard barbecues to lavish Derby Eve balls attended by entertainment stars, famed athletes and other persons of note. Lighthearted and laugh inspiring events are also a feature of the festival, such as the Great Bed Races in which local company sponsored employees in themed costumes push beds around a race track, competing for prizes. Recognition is given to Louisville's hardworking restaurant employees with the Run for the Rosé. Waiters and waitress run an obstacle course while carrying trays of glasses filled with red grape juice. Servers finishing with the best time and most red grape juice remaining in the glass win prizes.

[edit] Derby cruising

A controversial aspect of the Derby Festival is "Derby Cruising" which is not an official event by any means but has traditionally occurred on Broadway on the Derby day and the Friday before it. Almost exclusively popular with African-Americans, cruising consists of motorcycles and cars driving (very slowly) down Broadway, pedestrians crowding the widewalks, and several blocks closed for a festival with rides and street vendors. Violence has occurred during 2005 Derby cruising, including rapes, shootings and a murder, and the gridlock made it impossible for police to respond quickly. In 2006, police made a large effort to stop cruising, shutting down Broadway except to emergency vehicles, which resulted in allegations of racial profiling.

In 2007, police announced similar plans, which sparked a lawsuit by business owners and a civil rights foundation, claiming the shutdown of Broadway during Derby week violated their constitutional rights and cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in business. A federal judge allowed the plans to proceed, citing concerns about "public safety and the free flow of traffic". In the 2008 Derby year, faced with complaints from citizens, it has been decided that Broadway will be open for Derby.