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The Kentucky Derby Festival® started with the first Pegasus Parade® in 1956 on a shoestring budget of just $640 (about $7,500 in today’s dollars). It was the very first festival event. Today, this is one of the largest parades in the country. Sponsored by the Zoeller Pump Company, the parade has always been the last … Read more
Twenty-two years ago, an idea was hatched. Since Kentuckians race everything during the Kentucky Derby Festival, why not race rubber ducks? And a new event because a favorite of the Festival. Supporting Harbor House, a community organization that supports empowering individuals with disabilities and their families with the goal of helping them to enrich their … Read more
The weather in Kentucky during April and May is quite variable. Sometimes it’s sunny and warm; sometimes it snows. But you can thank Murphy’s Law for picking the worst times to bring unfavorable weather to the Ohio Valley. As in past years, this year’s Kentucky Derby Festival had scheduled four hot air balloon events: two … Read more
Burnham Square, trained by Ian R. Wilkes, was ridden to victory by Brian J. Hernandez Jr. in the 101st Blue Grass Stakes at Keenland on April 8, 2025.
We are sad to report that the Kentucky Derby Festival, along with their City, State, and Federal partners, have decided to cancel the 2025 Thunder over Louisville event due to the expected flooding after the historic rainfall that the area has been (and still is) receiving. It’s just not safe or even possible to put … Read more
And hopefully for good. 2024 was a strange year for us. Day jobs and PTO were not kind, so we made the choice to stay home and do things nearby. That meant no Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Derby Festival for us. It was another year of not being on the Belle of Louisville for the … Read more
It’s Derby week and that means people are racing things. Horses? Sure. Hot Air Balloons? A must. Rubber Duckies? Why not? But one of the more entertaining and unusual things to race are… beds! Dozens of teams spend weeks preparing their beds to race in this two-part competition. The first part is about the party. … Read more
The Pegasus Parade is one of the oldest events during the Kentucky Derby Festival. The mythical winged horse is the official mascot of the festival and the parade. In fact many people ooh and aww over the inflatable Pegasus as it rolls down Broadway For as long as I remember, the parade has been held, … Read more
In the pre-dawn hours of the Saturday morning a week before the Kentucky Derby, dozens of trucks and vans pulling trailers, and hundreds of cars lined up on Pee Wee Reese Drive in Louisville, Kentucky waiting to enter a back gate into a large field between Runway 6 and Runway 15 of Bowman Field. An … Read more
While Thunder Over Louisville is the official kickoff to the Kentucky Derby Festival, the main thrust to the festival starts on the Friday before the Kentucky Oaks with the L&N Federal Credit Union Great Balloon Fest. For 2023, this is a three-event mini-festival dedicated to racing Hot Air Balloons. Friday morning, the pilots take to … Read more