Kentucky Derby Festival

Kentucky Derby Festival
Thunder Over Louisville
Genre	Horse racing
Dates	The two weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby
Location(s)	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Years active	1935–1937, 1956–present
Website
http://kdf.org/

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, first ran from 1935 to 1937, and restarted in 1956 and includes:

The Kentucky Derby Festival Association started the first week-long festival in 1935, including a parade, a riverfront regatta and an orchestral concert. The first director was Olympic gold medallist Arnold Jackson. In 1937, a Derby Festival king and queen were crowned, marking the start of this tradition. After the floods of 1937, the festival was discontinued and it was not until 1956 when the modern-day Kentucky Derby Festival was reborn.

The Royal Court is among the oldest traditions of the Kentucky Derby Festival tradition, dating back to the 1950s. The Royal Court consists of a group of five young women chosen to preside over events related to the Kentucky Derby. These women officially represent both the Derby Festival and the city of Louisville. In early spring, a court of Derby Princesses is selected from a pool of more than 1000 applicants. Thirty finalists are selected and the pool is then reduced to five young women who make up the court. Criteria for the selection of the court members includes knowledge of the Derby Festival, poise, intelligence, personality and campus/community involvement.

The court attends nearly 70 events during the two-week period leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The queen is selected by a spin of the wheel at the Annual Fillies Derby Ball. The festival saw this method of queen selections as the most fair way to select from their court and the tradition continues today. Each member of the court is awarded a $2000 scholarship, an entire wardrobe for the festival, VIP access to all events and a chauffeur for the entire two weeks of the official Kentucky Derby Festival.

The festival's first major event is Thunder Over Louisville. Thunder kicks off with a day-long air show ranked as fifth-largest in the United States and the largest fireworks display in North America. The approximately 30 minute firework display begins at nightfall. Thunder Over Louisville's fireworks have been designed and performed by Zambelli Fireworks International since 1991.

Each year, an official Derby Festival poster is unveiled and prints are sold to help finance festival events. Artists and photographers who have produced the prized posters include Peter Max and Michael Schwab.