T is for Thunder Over Louisville

Every spring, for two fun filled weeks culminating in the running of what’s been called the “greatest two minutes in sports,” the city of Louisville celebrates Derby Season with the annual Kentucky Derby Festival.  

During the festival, numerous public and private events are held throughout the city.  Popular events include:  the Pegasus Parade, annual Bed Race, the KDF Mini Marathon and Marathon, the Great Balloon Glow, the Great Balloon Race, and steamboat race to name a few.

The festival officially kicks off today with a day long event called Thunder Over Louisville.  Thunder, as it is referred to by locals, consists of a daytime airshow and a thirty minute fireworks display later tonight.  The fireworks display is the largest annual fireworks/pyrotechnics display in North America.  

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Thunder Over Louisville began in 1989.  At the time, it was a part of the daytime opening luncheon/ceremony for the Kentucky Derby Festival.  (I know…Fireworks in the daytime?) In 1990, the fireworks became a nighttime event and took place at Cardinal Stadium at the Kentucky Expo Center.  In 1991, the event was relocated to it’s current home at Waterfront Park on the banks of the Ohio River and the fireworks detail was handed over to world famous Zambelli Internationale.  The airshow was added in 1992. 

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Eight tractor trailers filled with nearly 60 tons of fireworks shells along with 250 tons of launching tubes and 700 miles of wire cable are needed to assemble a show of this magnitude.  The fireworks are launched from eight barges anchored in the Ohio River as well as from the structures of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge (aka Second Street Bridge) that connects Louisville and Jeffersonville, Indiana.  

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Last year, an estimated 650,000 were in attendance.  The largest estimated attendance was 850,000 which was set back in 2007.  

Prime viewing spots are located on both sides of the Ohio River.  Which side is best?  Well, if often depends on the weather and which direction the wind is blowing.  Sometimes the wind blows the smoke towards the Kentucky side, obscuring the view of those on the south side of the river; sometimes just the opposite happens and the view from the Indiana side is obscured.  So, my answer is much like a coin toss - it could go either way.

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In addition to the public spaces in and around Waterfront Park and public areas on the Indiana side, there are other special event viewing options available for a fee.  Several Louisville businesses including Louisville Slugger Field, the YUM! Center, the Kentucky Science Museum, and the Kentucky Center for the Arts offer ticketed viewing spots at their facilities.  Ticket prices vary from venue to venue.  One advantage of going this route is having the use of the venue’s restrooms in lieu of having to stand in line to use one of the hundreds of port-o-pots (dubbed Thunder Pots) that are available to the public at Waterfront Park.  

Have you ever seen Thunder Over Louisville? What's the largest fireworks/pyrotechnics display you've ever seen?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

This is the twentieth of twenty-six alphabetized blog entries I am publishing this month as a part of the 2016 Blogging A to Z Challenge.  Many bloggers who participate in this challenge, select a theme.  My theme is - "Whatever I Think Of."  

For more information on the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, click here.