The Ultimate Guide to the Kentucky Derby Festival 2026

The Kentucky Derby Festival is full of the most anticipated events of the year, especially for a Louisivillian. Even if you aren’t into going to the actual Derby, you CANNOT ESCAPE the Derby Festival, which starts in late March and lasts until Derby Day, the first Saturday in May.

Even though the Derby is referred to as “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” the Derby is really a month-long celebration, and it’s all part of The Kentucky Derby Festival! During this time, the entire city bursts into bloom, colorful horse statues decorated by local artists and businesses pop up all over town, and a certain excitement permeates the air.

Below are some of the biggest/our favorite events, but there are SO MANY, which begs the question, is anyone ever sober in this city?!

Check out some of our other Derby posts as well:

Get THE POCKET KENTUCKY DERBY GUIDE

Subscribe to our email list and we'll send you a handy pocket guide to keep on your phone - plus our top tips for attending the Derby.

Email address

Awesome! Check your inbox to confirm your subscription and find the link to the map. (You might want to add lia@letsgolouisville.com to your contacts to make sure we don't end up in spam!)

Which is harder: figuring out how to buy Kentucky Derby tickets or planning your trackside wardrobe? Trick question! Neither dressing for the Derby nor buying race day tickets is difficult when you’ve got the Let’s Go Louisville team to help you out. Besides, no need to stress over choosing the perfect Kentucky Derby tickets, your wallet will do that for you! Oh, um, I mean… because we’re here to show you the ropes. With our guide to buying tickets to the Kentucky Derby, the process will be as easy, breezy as the whoosh of regal thoroughbreds thundering down the track. We'll show you everything you need to know about buying Kentucky Derby tickets, including where to buy them, when to buy them, and how to get the best deals. So saddle up, and let's get started!

The Kentucky Derby Festival Events 2026

In the month leading up to Derby, you simply cannot avoid hearing the word “Derby”, seeing giant painted horse statues and little Pegasus Pins everywhere (which let you into a lot of the events – pick one up at Kroger), and generally feeling like you’re being indoctrinated into some kind of horse-worshipping cult.

Here are the dates for the major events for 2026 (more insight into each event below):

Thunder Over Louisville—April 18, 2026
Fest-A-Ville—April 23 – May 1, 2026
Great Ballon Glow—April 23, 2026
miniMarathon & Marathon—April 25, 2026
Ken-Ducky Derby—April 25, 2026
Pegasus Parade—April 26, 2026
Great Bed Races—April 27, 2026
WineFest—April 28, 2026
Great Steamboat Race—April 29, 2026

So what up with Pegasus Pins?

Pegasus pins are cute little plastic pins with a pegasus on them, the mascot of the Kentucky Debry Festival. The first ever Kentucky Derby Festival event was the Pegasus Parade, named for the winged horse of Greek mythology symbolizing the magic, energy and excitement the Festival hoped to generate. And seeing what the festival is like today—it worked!

Today the Pegasus Pins are a fundraiser for the Derby Festival and you must purchase them to get into certain events. In 2026 they are $7 ($10 if you buy them at the gate for an event) and can be purchased at a whole host of local retailers, including Kroger, Walgreens, and CVS.

Every pin purchased can be registered to win weekly prizes from Friday, March 14 through Friday, May 2 like a speakeasy bourbon party for the Evan Williams Experience, a Bourbon and Beyond/Louder than Life package, and plenty of other awesome prizes.

Also 1 in 13 of the pins are also GOLD, which you will be automatically the coolest person in your friend group if you find one! The benefit of a gold pin is that you can register for the 2026 Gold Winner Grand Prize of $20,000! Now that’s a nice chunk of change. Remember to register your pins!

thunder of louisville kentucky derby festival — Thunder over Louisville is a blast! (Photo Credit)

The Kentucky Derby Festival: The Big Events

The Kentucky Derby Festival has a LOT of events. On their website, they have almost 50 events listed for 2026! While there are a ton of things to do, it’s better to stick to the event highlights to hit all the major Festival events. Some of the must-see events of the season are:

Thunder over Louisville

Every Louisvillian has their own favorite event. For most people it’s Thunder over Louisville, the nation’s LARGEST firework display—which is a fact and not hyperbole! We are talking about 30 solid minutes of fireworks, set to music and themed differently every year. As the thousands of fireworks burst over the glittering Ohio River, it’s easy to see why this is one of the most magical events at Derby time!

Thunder day starts with one of the top five air shows in the country, when jets and other military planes grace the sky with aerial stunts over the city and the Ohio River. It’s a loud, but exciting event, that you can see/hear from miles away!

The main viewing locations for Thunder are down along the river and people start arriving as early as 9am. Be aware it gets BUSY down by the river, and expect to park far away and walk in (and then spend a good amount of time getting home if you drove) and for cell service to be spotty at best. Though you can also find plenty of private Thunder viewing parties, such as at the Kentucky Center, the Science Center, or on the Belle of Louisville which will be more comfortable, air-conditioned, and have accessible bathrooms and food!

The fireworks start at 9:30pm and go unto 10pm, plenty of time to bask in the most stellar display of pyrotecnics in the US! Be sure to check out all the Thunder Day Information before making your way down to the big event.

Fest-A-Ville

Lia’s favorite Derby event is Fest-A-Ville, a week-long party on the banks of the Ohio River, which includes live music, fried food, and a series of exciting events, including:

Chow Wagon—Have a penchant for everything fried? Well, do I have the event for you! The Chow Wagon is like dying of a heart attack and going to fast food heaven, with more corn dogs, spiral fries, and burgers than you can shake a stick at! Be,sides the large amount of snackage, you can expect live jazz, R&B, country, rock and blues music and $4 Beer at the Beer Garden from 4-6pm on weekdays. That’s how you make a happy Louisvillian!
Ken-Ducky Derby—Watch as 50,000 rubber ducks are dumped and race down the Ohio River. You can “adopt a duck” which allows you to enter to win prizes if your duck makes it to the finish line first! This event supports Harbor House, a local non-profit organization dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for adults with developmental and physical disabilities. And don’t worry—all ducks are fished out of the Ohio, you have enough microplastics as it is!
NeighMaste on the Waterfront—Come down to the waterfront and enjoy Vinyasa Yoga in the beautiful setting of Waterfront Park! Practice poses like “downward facing horse” and “horse pose” which I am sure are real things and not things I’ve completely made up!

great ballon glow louisville kentucky derby festival — Getting lit at the Great Balloon Glow!

Great Balloon Glow & Race

The Great Balloon Glow is as magical as it sounds—a whole field of glowing, colorful balloons at night, the woosh of fire glowing as they keep the balloons inlfated but on the ground. Families and friends strolling around listening to synchronized music, talking to the pilots, and taking in the warm glow and eating snacks. At 7pm is the Parade of Balloons, at 8pm is the Balloon Staging, and at 9pm the Glow Begins! It’s like a scene out of a quaint old movie and I absolutely love stepping into the gorgeous scene.

The following morning is the Great Balloon Rush-Hour Race, which for 2026 will feature both Friday and Saturday morning races. You can head back to Bowman Field when they open at 6am for the balloon launch at 7am, or you can just watch them gently float across the sky from most places in the city!

The “race” portion is a Hare & Hound race, where a “hare” balloon launches first and followed by the “hound balloons”. The hare lands in a good spot and lays out a big fabric X on the ground, and the hounds have to drop markers as close to the X as possible!

pegasus parade louisville kentucky derby festival — The Pegasus herself soaring over the parade! (photo credit)

The Pegasus Parade

The parade features the best local Louisville businesses hailing in Derby season with huge floats while candy and other goodies are tossed at the spectators. Walking in the parade is kind of a rite of passage for a Louisvillian—I luckily have had the honor!

The Pegasus Parade is the OG Derby Festival Event, which started in 1956 with a budget of $640. I wasn’t there, but I imagine the scale is nowhere near the epic event it is today! The parade has featured such esteemed grand marshals in the past like Col. Harland Sanders, Muhammed Ali, and Mickey Mouse, so you know it’s going to be a good time!

Be wary the parade is very busy and there are usually a lot of road closures, so be prepared to walk! Also, they are complimentary bleacher seats along the route, and they are first come first served, so you’ll want to be there will before the 3pm start time. There are also VIP Reserved seats which includes premium viewing in TV zone, parking pass for every four tickets purchased and complimentary drinks and snacks $50 (along Broadway between Floyd and Preston).

The theme of the parade for 2026 is “Festival on the Move: A Year of Milestones, Memories and Movement!”

WineFest

WineFest is held Tuesday the week of Derby, and this year will be hosted at the Mellwood Arts Center! At WineFest, you can try over 100 wines from around Kentucky, some surprisingly quite good! I first went years ago when it was held on the Belvedere and it’s a fun way to hang out with friends while getting a lovely wine buzz.

Tickets are $75 for GA and the event goes form 6-9pm, and beside all the wine there are light apps, and you’ll receive an etched souvenir glass to try your wines out of and a WineFest event pin! If you like the bougie life, you can get VIP which allows you to enter at 5pm (for extra wine drinking time), access to the VIP Private area, sample Kentucky-inspired cuisine, a VIP gift, and an Exclusive Barrel Wine Tasting from Kentucky Derby Festival Official Wine Old 502!

If you’re a wine lover and want to believe that Kentucky can produce palatable wine, this event if for you!

four roses bourbon distillery in lawrenceburg kentucky — Try all kinds BourbonVille, like Four Roses! (Photo Credit: Four Roses)

BourbonVille

Can we do anything in Louisville without Bourbon?! The answer is: NO : Points to joke at the top about anyone ever being sober in this city:

BourbonVille is, you guessed it, a bourbon sampling event! As you mix and mingle at the Ice House, you can try different bourbon samples, cocktails, and bites from almost 10 different local bourbon producers. Think of it like a long distillery tour, complete with Master Distillers or brand ambassadors, except you aren’t limited to one tasting like at a regular distillery! Definitely have a DD…

Your tickets gets you a commemorative glass and pin, and, if you fancy, get VIP which grants you early admission and your own lounge!

Great Bed Races

Are you the kind of person who can’t wait to race to your bed at night? Well, here is an event for you! The Great Bed Races is just as absurd as it sounds—you build a bed, dress up in whacky costumes, and race to the finish line!

Grab four of your co-workers, build a bed on wheels, decorate it, dress in a ridiculous costume—and then race to the finish. That pretty much sums up the Kentucky Derby Festival Great Bed Races.

All you need are 4 team members and lots of enthusiasm as you battle 30 other teams while the news covers your race from every angle, because this is serious business! There are different categories you can win like Fastest Course Times (two divisions; champions & fun), Best Decorated, Most Entertaining, and the Cone Eater Award.

Best of all, it’s free with a Pegasus pin to just attend and watch!

Taste of Derby

Taste of Derby gives you a taste of Louisville, all in one evening! Try samples from over 100+ local restaurants and spirits producers that will make you ask, please sir, can I have some more?

Besides all the delicious nom noms, what else is on the menu? They got raffles, photo ops, and plenty of fun as you mingle and taste the true flavor of Kentucky! I am imagining things like fried chicken, bourbon, and other little wonderful bites I won’t be able to get enough of! Also every ticket directly supports Dare to Care Food Bank, helping fight hunger right here at home.

If you are in town and don’t end up making it to Taste of Derby, check out a food tour by Louisville Food Tours, the locally-owned, award-winning food tour company. You have 7 different food tours to choose from, helping you taste the story of Louisville one bite at a time!

Let's Go Louisville's editor-in-chief Richie Goff and his husband dressed to the nines on Derby Week at the Belle of Louisville during the Great Steamboat Race! — Let’s Go Louisville’s editor-in-chief Richie Goff and his husband (wearing a Shinesty suit) dressed to the nines on Derby Week at the Belle of Louisville during the Great Steamboat Race!

Great Steamboat Race

While the Derby may be the most exciting 2 minutes in sports—with the horses galloping by in a flash—The Great Steamboat Race is an extremely slow but incredibly exciting 2-hour steamboat race!

Every year the Belle of Louisville is pitted against another regional riverboat as they barrel down the Ohio at breakneck speeds of approximately 11mph. The tickets include a grab-and-go dinner, beverages, open bar and live entertainment, so you’ll be sure to have a blast as you sit on the deck while screaming to the captain, “move your bloomin’ arse!”

Following the race, the victor is awarded the pair of Silver Antlers during an Awards Ceremony on the Belle of Louisville, which is much cooler than some silly roses, amirite? Overall, this is a super fun way to spend an evening dressed up and feeling being a boat jockey!

mini marathon kentucky derby festival — Me after the mini Marathon, wet but alive!

Derby Festival mini & Marathon

If you fancy yourself somewhat of a horse and feel the inkling to run yourself, consider the Derby Festival mini or Marathon (or 5k!).

I once did the mini Marathon (AKA the half marathon), and besides the getting up super early and running to the point of exhaustion, it’s really fun! Really, the coolest part of this race is that both the half and full marathon run THROUGH Churchill Downs! Yes, you can really be like a real Derby horse!

Both races are pretty flat, except in the middle of the full marathon they make you RUN UP THE HILLS of Iroquois Park because they want to laugh at you and make you suffer. I’m just kidding (or am I).

What’s your favorite Derby Festival event? Did we miss any big ones? Drop us a comment below!

Before you go, be sure to check out these other posts:

Psst: Did you find this post informative? Save it for later on Pinterest!