Thunder Over Louisville
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Thunder Over Louisville, the annual kickoff event of the
Kentucky Derby Festival 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 ...
, is an
airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...
and
fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
display in
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
. It is generally held each April, about two weeks before the first Saturday in May, or Derby Day. In years where Easter Sunday falls on the usually scheduled weekend, Thunder is moved a week earlier. It is the largest annual fireworks display in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and began as part of an opening ceremonies event in 1989 with daytime fireworks. 1990 brought the first nighttime fireworks event. It officially began in its current location along the Ohio River in 1991 with fireworks, and an annual air show was added in 1992. Thunder generally starts in the afternoon with an air show, followed by the fireworks show starting at 9:30 PM, along with a synchronized soundtrack through PA and
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
. An average of 625,000 people have attended each year since 1997, lining the banks of the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
in Louisville, and across the river in Jeffersonville and
Clarksville, Indiana Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River and is a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 22,333 at the 2020 census. The town was founded in 1783 by early resident George Rogers Cla ...
. Some also watch from the river on boats, docked in positions auctioned off for charity. Eight 400-foot
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
s launch the fireworks, provided by Zambelli Fireworks Internationale, from both sides of the
George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, known locally as the Second Street Bridge, is a four-lane cantilevered truss bridge crossing the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana, that carries US 31. History Debate ...
(Second Street Bridge), and more fireworks are launched from the bridge itself. In the twenty-first century the estimated attendance at Thunder has usually been approximately five times that of the main attraction, the
Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
at
Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...
.


History

Thunder Over Louisville began as a concept at a Kentucky Derby Festival workshop in the summer of 1988, after a decision had been made to have opening ceremonies for the first time. The first opening ceremonies were held in 1989 at the Chow Wagon on the river and broadcast live to the They're Off! Luncheon crowd at the Galt House East. Organized by multimedia producer Wayne Hettinger, owner of Visual Presentations, they featured a live stage show to introduce the festival theme song and the release of about 20,000 multicolored balloons—followed by daytime fireworks. Attendance was estimated at 10,000. The first nighttime fireworks show was in 1990 at
Cardinal Stadium Cardinal Stadium, formerly known as Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, is a football stadium located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the southern end of the campus of the University of Louisville. Debuting in 1998, it serves as the home o ...
in the
Kentucky Exposition Center The Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Originally built in 1956. It is overseen by the Kentucky Venues and is the sixth largest facility of its type in the U.S., with of indoor ...
, where more than 35,000 people attended a Derby Festival opening ceremonies concert by
Janie Fricke Jane Marie Fricke ( ; born December 19, 1947), known professionally as Janie Fricke, is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and clothing designer. She has placed seventeen singles in the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Ho ...
and a 4,000-shell fireworks show following a sold out Louisville Redbirds baseball game. Fireworks had been used in Derby festivities since the 1960s, but the positive impact of fireworks on this concert—particularly the echoing sound—led to the firework show's name when it was held the following year over the Ohio River. In 1991 the event moved to Waterfront Park, and Zambelli Fireworks Internationale's Master Pyrotechnician Raymond M Loffredo began handling the fireworks. The Air Show began in 1992, and has featured such notable aircraft as the Harrier, the B-2 (Stealth Bomber), and the F-117 (Stealth Fighter) as well as the Apache Attack Helicopter. The event expanded rapidly in scale and attendance; by 1996 more shells were exploded in the first minute than in the entire 1990 show. In 1997, the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
designated Thunder Over Louisville as one of the events for its 50th anniversary celebration. More than 125
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
performed that year, making it the largest combined
fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
and air show in the United States. The event relies heavily on corporate donations. In 2000, when Kroger pulled out after 10 years of sponsorship, the
Kentucky Derby Festival 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 ...
was left scrambling for money. They announced the Thunder Funder program, in which individuals can make small donations. In 2006,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
announced that they would be the title sponsor for Thunder Funder and donate 10 cents from the sale of every 32-ounce drink in a commemorative cup to the Derby Festival. This promotion continued until 2014. In 2015, the restaurant chain pledged $100,000 to the event. The fireworks show has grown in size and scope every year, with over 52,000 shells used in 2004, and 60,000 in 2005. The fireworks show usually lasts 30 minutes. There is traditionally a 3-minute finale which organizers call by the name Gargantuan. This is usually preceded by a short break in the fireworks and an audio score of "The Colonel Bogey March" as whistled in the movie ''Bridge on the River Kwai'', often catching first time spectators, who believe the show has ended, by surprise. The 2007 event had a record crowd, whose size was estimated at 850,000 by the event producer. Such counts do not include thousands of people who watch from area rooftops at "Thunder parties" held by individuals with proximity advantaged addresses in
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
,
Old Louisville Old Louisville is a historic district and neighborhood in central Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the third largest such district in the United States, and the largest preservation district featuring almost entirely Victorian architect ...
, Portland and the Butchertown neighborhood immediately upriver from downtown, as well as river adjacent neighborhoods in the Indiana communities of Clarksville and Jeffersonville. In 2010, a computer glitch 30 seconds before the show during a pre-recorded minute long audio countdown to the fireworks caused an 18-minute delay while the problem was troubleshooted. In 2020, Thunder Over Louisville was canceled for the first time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kentucky Derby was postponed to September, and took place with no spectators. The following year, fireworks were launched throughout the city to reduce crowd sizes due to COVID-19 precautions. The show was televised locally, and in-person spectators were discouraged from gathering. The same year, a boat accident occurred on the Ohio River near the Greenwood Boat Docks as a large amount of spectators attempted to view the fireworks from the river. One barge collided with a boat, killing three people. Four people were rescued from the Ohio River by barge operators.


Weather

Due to the complexity of the event, including road closures, police presence, and technical requirements, there is no rain date for Thunder. The event has never been canceled due to weather. Officials would cancel if severe weather or lightning was imminent, and the fireworks could be delayed if heavy rain or wind was occurring at the time of the show. In 2005, unseasonably cold weather brought a temperature of 38 at 8:30 PM, an hour before the fireworks. A brief downpour of heavy sleet cleared all but an estimated 10,000 spectators from the riverfront by fireworks time. In 2011, temperatures in the 40s caused a much lower attendance than usual. Ohio River flooding was a concern for the 2015 event, but organizers did not let the high water cancel the festivities. It did make some traditional viewing areas inaccessible and additional safety precautions had to be taken to make the show possible. The warmest Thunder Over Louisville on record just happened in 2022 when Louisville hit a high of 87 degrees.


TV coverage

Thunder Over Louisville has been televised locally since its first year. The 2007 show was the first to be broadcast entirely in
HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
. Previously, two or three HDTV cameras supplemented the broadcast. TV coverage of the fireworks received record ratings in 2006 due to cold temperatures which made many people choose to watch the show from home. In 2005, The Kentucky Derby Festival started rotating the broadcast rights each year between 3 of the major Louisville network affiliates (
WAVE-TV WAVE (channel 3) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located on South Floyd Street in downtown Louisville, and its transmitter is located in ...
,
WDRB WDRB (channel 41) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Block Communications alongside Salem, Indiana–licensed dual CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBKI (channel 58). Both st ...
, and
WLKY WLKY (channel 32) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with CBS. The station is owned by Hearst Television, and maintains studios on Mellwood Avenue (near I-71) on Louisville's east side; its transmitter is l ...
). After airing the coverage exclusively from 1991-2003,
WHAS-TV WHAS-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on West Chestnut Street in Downtown Louisville, and its transmitter is located in rural ...
chose not to participate in the rotation for several years after this agreement was made. They have since entered the rotation. The show is traditionally rebroadcast on the
4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music) In music a fourth is an interval spanning four staff po ...
, on the U.S. military's
American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
.


See also

*
List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area This is a list of visitor attractions and annual events in the Louisville metropolitan area. Annual festivals and other events Spring * Abbey Road on the River, a salute to The Beatles with many bands, held Memorial Day weekend in Louisville ...
*
Great Steamboat Race The Great Steamboat Race is an annual steamboat race, taking place the Wednesday before the first Saturday of May, three days before the Kentucky Derby, as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival. The race was first run in 1963 and it takes place on t ...


References


External links

{{Commons category, Thunder Over Louisville
Thunder official siteKentucky Derby Festival official siteThunder Over Louisville 2007 timelapse videoLouisville.com's Thunder Over Louisville section
Fireworks in the United States Kentucky Derby Events in Louisville, Kentucky Recurring events established in 1990 1990 establishments in Kentucky Annual events in Kentucky