The Kentucky Derby Festival is an annual festival held in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, during the two weeks preceding the first Saturday in May, the day of the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

. The festival,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

's largest single annual event, first ran from 1935 to 1937, and restarted in 1956. The festival's main components are: Thunder Over Louisville, the largest annual fireworks display in North America; the Great Steamboat Race, featuring the Belle of Louisville and the Pegasus Parade.

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 medalist 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. In 2020, the festival was cancelled due to COVID-19, the first such cancellation since 1938. In 1962 Tom "Cactus" Brooks received the first Kentucky Derby Festival Silver Horseshoe Award, "given to a person who had made a difference in the community and in youth development".

Official events

The Royal Court

The Royal Court is among the oldest traditions of the Kentucky Derby Festival tradition, dating back to the 1950s by The Fillies, Inc. The Royal Court consists of a group of five young women chosen to preside over events related to the Kentucky Derby. These women officially represent both the Derby Festival and the city of Louisville. In January, a court of Derby Princesses is selected from a pool of more than 1000 applicants. Thirty finalists are selected and the pool is then reduced to five young women who make up the court. Criteria for the selection of the court members includes knowledge of the Derby Festival, poise, intelligence, personality, academic excellence and campus/community involvement. The court attends nearly 70 events during the two-week period leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The queen is selected by a spin of the wheel at the Annual Fillies Derby Ball. The festival saw this method of queen selections as the most fair way to select from their court and the tradition continues today. Each member of the court is awarded a $2000 scholarship, an entire wardrobe for the festival, VIP access to all events and a chauffeur for the entire two weeks of the official Kentucky Derby Festival.

Thunder Over Louisville

The festival's first major event is Thunder Over Louisville. Thunder kicks off with a day-long air show and one of the largest fireworks displays in North America.

Fest-A-Ville

During the festival, much of Waterfront Park is billed as "Fest-A-Ville". It hosts a number of events, including the Chow Wagon, rides, and concerts.

Poster

Each year, an official Derby Festival poster is unveiled and prints are sold to help finance festival events.

Pegasus Parade

The first event held by KDF was the 1956 Pegasus Parade. The parade is held annually on the Thursday before Derby.

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weatherman

Willard Scott Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC br ...

was the host of WAVE TV's broadcast coverage of the Pegasus Parade from 1982 through 2005.

Sports

Various sport competitions are held as part of the Festival, including the Derby Festival Volleyball Classic. From 1973 to 2017, the Festival hosted the Derby Festival Basketball Classic. Since 1974, a pro-am

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tournament has been held.

Races

A number of races take place in the festival. The Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

occur the Saturday before the Kentucky Derby. The mini has been held since 1974. That same Saturday is typically also when the Great Balloon Race is held, the culmination of the hot air balloon-themed BalloonFest. Recognition is given to Louisville's restaurant employees with the Run for the Rosé, where waiters and waitresses run an

obstacle course An obstacle course is a series of challenging physical obstacles an individual, team or animal must navigate, usually while being timed. Obstacle courses can include running, climbing, jumping, crawling, swimming, and balancing elements with the ...

while carrying trays of glasses filled with wine. For the annual bed races, businesses create themed mobile beds that are paraded before being race on an indoor track with costumed employees. The Great

Steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

Race usually takes place in the week before Derby, where the Belle of Louisville typically takes on at least one challenger.

Miscellaneous

Since 1997, a spelling bee has been held for the festival.

Pegasus pins

Since 1973, KDF has sold a plastic pin for the Kentucky Derby featuring a

pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

. The pin is used as proof of purchase for admission to a number of the KDF events.

Derby cruising

A controversial aspect of the Derby Festival is "Derby Cruising." Though it is not an official or licensed event during Derby Festival, it takes place in the historically black areas of West Broadway on Derby day and the Friday before it. Cruising consists of motorcycles and cars (many elaborately modified) driving slowly down Broadway, pedestrians crowding the sidewalks, and several blocks closed for a festival with rides and street vendors. The gridlock associated with cruising made it difficult for police to respond to instances of violence during 2005 Derby cruising. In 2006, police made an effort to stop cruising, shutting down Broadway except to

emergency vehicle An emergency vehicle is a vehicle used by emergency services. Emergency vehicles typically have specialized Emergency vehicle lighting, emergency lighting and Emergency vehicle equipment, vehicle equipment that allow emergency services to reach Ca ...

s, which resulted in suggestions of

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

and much public debate about the legitimacy of Broadway cruising as a free alternative to other festivities. In 2007, police announced similar plans, although slightly more of Broadway was to remain open, including access to Shawnee Park. The 2007 plan sparked a lawsuit by business owners and a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

foundation, claiming the shutdown of Broadway during Derby week violated their

constitutional right A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

s and cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in business. A

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A U.S. federal judge is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Arti ...

allowed the plans to proceed, citing concerns about "public safety and the free flow of traffic". In 2008, police again banned cruising, but with a new plan allowing traffic to flow but to have a high number of officers on hand to enforce the city's noise and cruising ordinances, the latter of which prevents vehicles from blocking a roadway. Police reported that arrests were down from 2007, although they did shut down a 10-block portion of Broadway for a short time on Derby evening after gridlock developed.

References

External links

*
Thunder Over Louisville website

Great BalloonFest website

Great Steamboat Race website

Pegasus Parade website

Derby Festival miniMarathon & Marathon website
{{Louisville Festivals established in 1956 Horse racing meetings Marathons in the United States Hot air balloon festivals Parades in the United States 1956 establishments in Kentucky April May Sports festivals in the United States