The 2015 version of the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Great Balloon Race surprised many with a Friday flight due to expected bad weather on Saturday morning, it’s traditional fly date. With winds carrying the balloons into southern Indiana in the middle of rush hour in heavy construction, the race was shortened to allow teams to be able to make it to the Balloon Glow later that evening.
BREAKING NEWS: Great Balloon Race moved to this afternoon!
Because of expected bad weather tomorrow, organizers of the Great Balloon Race have decided to move tomorrow’s race to today at 5:30 pm. The balloons will still take off from Bowman Field. After the race, things will move to the Fairgrounds for the Balloon glow tonight at 9pm.
Preparing for the Kentucky Derby and Festival
When you decide to take a vacation to participate in the Kentucky Derby Festival there is considerable planning involved to make the trip possible. One of the first things is ticket acquisition.
Most of the festival events are free with a $5 Pegasus Pin, but several key events require tickets or you need tickets for preferred seating. Of course the big event is the Kentucky Derby itself. Unless your plans are to party in the infield, you will need to acquire reserved seating at Churchill Downs and they won’t be cheap and they won’t be around for long. Once it sells out, the tickets will only get more expensive on the aftermarket sites. Tickets start becoming rare in February. Since many packages also include Kentucky Oaks tickets as well, even that event sells out quickly. If you want on the Belle of Louisville for the Great Steamboat Race, you need to hop on that early too as well as reserved seating for the Pegasus Parade.
Things to do: Follow the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Kentucky may be famous for basketball and horses, including the greatest horse race, but it’s also famous for something else… Bourbon. Bourbon is a specific form of Whisky distilled in Kentucky. It is aged in oak barrels which gives the drink it distinct flavor.
Add a horse farm tour to your agenda
If the Kentucky Derby Festival doesn’t keep you busy around Louisville, you can always drive an hour away down I-64 towards Lexington and see where the magic happens.
Central Kentucky, renowned for its rolling hills of Kentucky bluegrass is home to many farms dedicated to our equine friends. Horse farms, from trotters, to show horses to the thoroughbreds that will race on Derby Day dot the landscape.
Let the Festival begin! It’s time for Thunder over Louisville!
Of course some festival events have already been going, but the big kick-off happens today over the Ohio River in downtown Louisville when Thunder over Louisville takes to the air. This year’s theme is a “Boom with a View”.
Derby day comes and my wallet is empty
Our vacation is nearing its end. It’s Derby day. We won’t be among the 164,000 people to pack in to Churchill Downs dressed to the nines with flowing hats and drinking $11 mint juleps. Instead it’s a day to head to Sherry’s brother, Doug’s house for his annual Kentucky Derby party, a tradition he took … Read more
Makin’ Maker’s Mark at the Bourbon Festival
When looking to fill our out schedule, taking a tour of the Maker’s Mark distillery sounded like something to do. We discovered that on Friday, they were actually holding a festival at their campus in Loretta, Kentucky. Friday was scheduled for good weather and was our open day, so we packed up the car and … Read more
It’s Thurby — but for us, it was more family time.
The Kentucky Derby has always been the grand event that brought in people from outside of Kentuckiana. It’s the event that most people know about. The Friday before the Derby, is a race for three-year old fillies (female horses) that’s just about as big as the Derby — the Kentucky Oaks, but being on Friday, … Read more
The Belle of Louisville kicks the Belle of Cincinnati’s behind in the Great Steamboat Race #kdf2014
One of the banner events of the Kentucky Derby Festival is racing old river paddle boats up and down the Ohio River. The cornerstone of this race is the 100-year-old “Belle of Louisville” who turns 100 later this year. She is an authentic steam-powered paddle wheel that drove transportation in the 1800’s and 1900’s up … Read more