KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL

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, 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'.
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. 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.

Contents

Derby cruising

See also

References

External links

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", but their legality for 2008 is still undecided.^[2]

See also

★ List of attractions and events in Louisville, Kentucky

References

1. The Derby itself began in 1875 at Churchill Downs.
2. City can use plan to stop cruising Jim Adams
3. "2007 Derby Festival will Go for the Magic".

External links

★ Kentucky Derby Festival website

★ Kentucky Derby website

★ Thunder Over Louisville website

★ Fireworks Internationale