Today is the kick-off for Derby Festival which paves the way for the most popular horserace known to us - THE KENTUCKY DERBY. I LOVE this time of year because it makes me so proud to call Louisville my home. Although the Derby City is alive throughout the year (especially with their awesome pubs on Bardstown Road and 4th Street Live downtown) it is absolutely glowing from mid-April through the first Saturday in May.
Today's kick-off is Thunder Over Louisville which is a HUGE event drawing millions downtown. It starts with an air show (and many beers) followed by the largest fireworks display in North America (and more beers). I actually attended the very first Thunder Over Louisville 21 years ago. Because it was the first year, it wasn't too heavily advertised or known about. But the fireworks definitely stopped traffic on all three of the major interstates running through downtown! My boyfriend at the time and I pulled over to the side of I-71 and climbed up the embankment to watch the show...and we were certainly not the only ones. It was incredible and became the staple of the year in Louisville.
After the big kick-off to the season, the Chow Wagons open for business. What a trip! Festival foods, live music and cold (expensive but worth the experience) beers! But the best part is the people watching! Grab a corn dog and a cold one and just cop a squat somewhere and watch those who have made their way out of the woodwork entertain you...by just being themselves. There are several Chow Wagons around town but the one downtown on the river just really symbolizes our great town! You can look behind you at the beautiful skyline or in front of you at the buttcrack of the redneck from...oops, I mean the river! It really is a ton of fun!
This goes on for several weeks (usually a two week period of time) to get everyone hyped up and drunk by the time Derby rolls around. There are parades, Great Steamboat Race, bed races, hot air balloon race and so many more events it is INSANE! I tell you this...there is no place else you would rather be than in Louisville during this time. Living there is incredible! Working there is a little more challenging...unless you aren't the least bit affiliated with the event which means early days off and much more lenient rules. But I worked for the production company that handled the Kentucky Derby Festival account. I was so stoked to help them put on such amazing events!! The folks there work insanely long and brutal hours for many months leading up to the festival and then triple that when these two weeks roll around. But they are fun people who are the best in the business when it comes to festival planning. I miss working with them...and the passes I would get to view Thunder from the "millionaires row." Ahhh, those were the days!!
It's funny how, when you live in Louisville all of your life, you take things for granted. I guess that happens anywhere you live. I have lived out here in Tucson, AZ for about five years and swore that I would NEVER take for granted the beauty of the mountains and desert around me...but I definitely have. I will need to take a few minutes today to gaze at them and remember their beauty. But I always took for granted that I would make it to Thunder. That I would go to the Chow Wagon at least two or three times with different groups of friends. That I would make it to the infield at Derby or at least have a Derby party to rival the infield. But here I am 1000 miles away from the excitement (yet I can still feel it) and they probably won't even show the awesome fireworks on any station out here (maybe CNN as a newstory). Oh it breaks my heart.
We live close to a regional airport and the small planes flying over this morning reminded me of where I lived in Louisville - close to downtown - I would hear the planes flying over the house making their way to the airshow while I was getting myself ready to pick up my clan and head down to the party. As I opened my eyes I realized that I was still out here in the desert. In a place where really no one knows the depths of Derby Festival...the thrill and excitement of it...the continuous party atmosphere in the entire town...where everyone comes together to celebrate the awesomeness that is Louisville and the Derby. I am out here among those who probably pronounce Louisville incorrectly and, until I brought Derby parties to them, never knew about the most famous horserace in our country. Even T didn't know what it was. I remember when I first met him, I told him I was from Louisville and he looked at me with a puzzled expression. I said, you know. The Derby? Still puzzled, he shook his head no. I stood there with my mouth wide open. How do you NOT know about Derby??
Anyway, I just had to share my passion for my hometown. This is the BEST time to be from Louisville and even more awesome to live there. It will be hard today playing around pretending like I'm not missing anything when, in reality, I miss living there a lot...everyday, as a matter of fact. But especially NOW. The most wonderful time of the year...
Check out the excitement in Louisville! I am so proud to be a Louisvillian!
http://kdf.org/index.cgi
The beautiful skyline that I call home:
2 comments:
This sounds like a lot of fun. I love festivals and fireworks, so I'm sure I would eat this alive.
Thanks for having stopped by. =)
What a beautifl skyline! You are s right about taking thins for granted. Where I was born we had mountains and when I came to Chicago, none whatsoever!
I'm proud to be Ecuadorean. =)
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