Every year, the Belle of Louisville positions itself on the Ohio River to race the Delta Queen for the Kentucky Derby Festival Great Steamboat Race. These steamboats are two of the only six authentic, running steamboats in the U.S., and both are listed on the National Historic Register.

Would the Great Steamboat Race be the same without the Delta Queen? Would it even continue to be an annual Kentucky Derby Festival event? The truth is that this may be the last year that the Delta Queen meets the Belle of Louisville on the Ohio River for the Great Steamboat Race.


Congress has, until recently, exempted the Delta Queen from legislation that prohibits boats with wooden superstructures from traveling on U.S. waters. However, in 2007, the Delta Queen did not receive this exemption, meaning that it will be forced to retire in November of this year.

If you feel that the Great Steamboat Race between the Belle of Louisville and the Delta Queen is a Derby tradition, there are things that you can do in order to attempt to encourage an exemption on this law for the Delta Queen and prevent the historic steamboat from being retired in November. To learn more and find out how you can help, visit www.Save-The-Delta-Queen.org.