Top 5 Kentucky Derby Festival Events

Each year, close to half a million people gather around Louisville's riverfront to watch Thunder Over Louisville -- the largest fireworks show in the world and the opening event for the Kentucky Derby Festival. The 28 minute fireworks show is preceded by the Thunder Air Show, one of the top five air shows in the country. The Thunder Air Show features more than 100 planes performing hours of diving and acrobatic stunts.

While the miniMarathon has been a top Kentucky Derby Festival Event for several decades, the Marathon has not yet been around for one full decade. However, the full-length, 26-mile Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon is quickly on its way to becoming one of the top spring races in our region. The 13-mile Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon is a huge hit among both residents of Louisville and its surrounding cities, as well as with both runners and walkers alike.

Nearly 70,000 people gather at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center every year on the weekend before the Kentucky Derby to watch the events that compose the Great Balloon Fest. The Great Balloon Fest is a series of events leading up to the Great Balloon Race, including the balloon glow and the rush hour race, among others. The Balloon Glow starts late and the Balloon Race starts early, but both are experiences like no other.

The Belle of Louisville is one of only six authentic paddlewheel steamboats currently operating in the U.S. Every year on the Thursday before the Kentucky Derby, the Delta Queen, one of the nation's other operating steamboats, travels down the Ohio River to race the Belle of Louisville in the Great Steamboat Race. The winner receives a pair of golden antlers for the year.

The Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Parade was the first ever event of the Kentucky Derby Festival. Though the festival has grown since the days where it consisted of just the parade and the Derby and Oaks races, the Pegasus Parade remains one of the biggest and best Kentucky Derby Festival events. Parade participants march, walk, and roll down Broadway in Downtown Louisville, while spectators watch the amazing series of floats, inflatable characters, marching bands, celebrities, and horses pass by.