Burnham Square claimes the 2025 Blue Grass Stakes
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.
Flooding cancels 2025 Thunder over Louisville
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
It’s 2025! We are back!
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 time to race the beds!
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
It’s a parade, mostly about horses
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
The 2023 Great Balloon Race takes to the sky
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
The Great Balloon Glow brings excitement to the riverfront
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
Thunderstruck!
For 33 years, the Kentucky Derby Festival has had its formal kickoff with fireworks. Over the years Thunder has grown to include an air show. The free event draws upwards of 800,000 fans to the shores of the Ohio River to take in this afternoon and evening spectacle. For airshows, most of the action happens … Read more
Great news! We’re back
The past six years have put a serious damper on our ability to travel and bring you great stories and photography from the Kentucky Derby Festival. Between cancer, rotator cuff surgery, and then a couple of years of COVID, it’s been a real challenge to “festival”. But we are back for the 2023 Kentucky Derby … Read more
And it’s a wrap on the 2017 Derby Festival
After our successful return to North Carolina after spending two weeks in Louisville, it’s time to look back on the two weeks. While our normal adventure lasts 10 days (Friday thru Sunday spanning the week before the Kentucky Derby), this year, we drove up to Louisville two Friday’s before the Derby to take part in … Read more