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The Kentucky Derby Festival is underway and the Kentucky Exposition Center plays host to four popular events.
Kentucky Derby Festival Race Expo & Packet Pick Up: Thursday, April 26 – Friday, April 27 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. – Thursday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. – Friday More than 15,000 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon participants and their families stop by this annual event to pick up required information for the two races. During this time, attendees can visit exhibitors featuring fitness resources, tools and apparel. Located in the West Wing and Pavilion.
U.S. Bank Great Balloon Glow: Friday, April 27 6 p.m. Gates open 9 p.m. Glow begins Spectators watch as pilots fill hot-air balloons that glow against the evening sky, set to a special musical score. Visitors are invited to meet the pilots and ask questions. The balloons are parked in Lots C and D.
Thorntons Great Bed Races: Monday, April 30 4 p.m. Official tailgate party 6 p.m. Parade of the beds 7 p.m. Races begin Crowds cheer as teams dressed in costumes push decorated beds in a 600-yard dash to the finish line. Awards are presented for fastest course times, best decorated, most entertaining and more. The races take place in Broadbent Arena.
Republic Bank Pegasus Parade Preview Party Presented by Mega Caverns: Tuesday, May 1 5 – 9 p.m. Open to the public Visitors get a sneak peek at inflatables and floats, complete with dancing costumed characters. Children can also get an autograph or photo of the Derby Festival Queen and Royal Court. The preview party is held in South Wing C.
Admission to all events is free with a 2018 Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Pin. Parking at the Kentucky Exposition Center is $8 per vehicle and $20 per bus.
For more information about the Kentucky Derby Festival, visit www.kdf.org.
Historical interpreter and culinary historian Michael Twitty will be in residence at Locust Grove May 22 through May 25, 2018 for Africa In Our Kitchens, a series of workshops, presentations, and tastings. Michael Twitty is a dedicated researcher who is committed to preserving and promoting African-American foodways and culture, and linking this influence on Southern food heritage. His research brings an understanding of the cultural heritage of enslaved communities and its relationship to the American South. His book, The Cooking Gene, was released by HarperCollins in 2017.
Twitty’s week-long residency at Locust Grove will explore the influence that African culture had on what has become American food through the enslaved African American experience. “Kentucky has an impressive and important role in the history and heritage of Southern and African American foodways and I hope my visit amplifies that story,” says Twitty of his visit.
Twitty’s residency will involve three formal public events, and focus on the enslaved community at Locust Grove. According to Brian Cushing, Locust Grove’s Program Director, “Michael Twitty’s visit is one of the best opportunities we have had yet to bring the experiences of the enslaved African Americans who worked the Locust Grove farm two centuries ago to life for our visitors. At any given time between 1792-1856, they comprised the majority population on the property that is now our museum and through exploring the food that they brought with them and created here, we are hoping that visitors come closer to understanding them as real, individual human beings.”
On Tuesday, May 22 at 6:00 pm, Twitty will offer a hearth meal tasting, allowing guests to taste traditional recipes cooked in Locust Grove’s hearth kitchen while hearing how the lived experiences of enslaved African Americans inform our national story and taste buds. Tickets are $18, or $15 for Locust Grove members.
On Thursday, May 24 at 6:00 pm, the public is invited to an open-air barbecue sampler that recreates the practices of enslaved African Americans living in early America. During the day, Twitty will roast a whole sheep over an open pit and prepare other 18th and 19th century recipes for sampling by evening guests. Tickets are $23, or $20 for Locust Grove members.
On both Tuesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 24, the Locust Grove hearth kitchen and grounds will be open for “Cooking Days with Michael Twitty.” Guests are welcome to stop by the hearth kitchen to view preparations, ask questions about recipes and techniques, and gain insight into how daily meals were prepared in the 18th and 19th centuries. Admission to the grounds for Cooking Days will be free. On Thursday, much of the preparations will take place on the grounds as Twitty roasts a whole sheep over an open pit.
Finally, on Friday, May 25 at 6:30 pm, Michael Twitty will present “Africa In Our Kitchens: How Enslaved African American Cooks Shaped American Cuisine.” This lecture will discuss Twitty’s research into the foodways of the enslaved and how their culture and experience shaped the American palate. Tickets for this presentation at $12, or $10 for Locust Grove members.
Africa In Our Kitchens: Michael Twitty at Locust Grove will take place May 22-25, 2018 at Historic Locust Grove. Tickets for all events will be on sale starting April 21 and may be purchased by calling Locust Grove at 502-897-9845.
Africa In Our Kitchens: Hearth Meal Tasting
Tuesday, May 22, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Learn about 18th and 19th-century hearth cooking practices and the African influence on American cooking through enslaved cooks with historical interpreter and culinary historian Michael Twitty. During this tasting event, guests will taste traditional recipes cooked by Michael Twitty in Locust Grove’s hearth kitchen and hear how the lived experiences of enslaved African Americans inform our national story and national taste buds, as African culture and food practices became associated with American cooking. Tickets: $18/$15 for Locust Grove members. Tickets on sale April 21, 2018; call (502) 897-9845.
Cooking Tuesday with Michael Twitty
Tuesday, May 22, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Free admission to grounds and hearth kitchen to view preparations for the evening event.
Africa In Our Kitchens: Open Air Barbecue Sampler
Thursday, May 24, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Experience an 18th century barbecue that recreates the practices of enslaved African Americans living in early America as Michael Twitty roasts a whole sheep over an open pit. The foodways of the enslaved have had a profound influence on the flavors that persist in American recipes, intrinsically linking African culture with our present understanding of traditional food. Michael Twitty’s food will give you a taste of the past while offering an understanding of the unique stories and experiences of enslaved African Americans. Tickets: $23/$20 for Locust Grove members. Tickets on sale April 21, 2018; call (502) 897-9845.
Cooking Thursday with Michael Twitty
Thursday, May 24, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Free admission to grounds and hearth kitchen to view preparations for the evening event.
Africa In Our Kitchens: How Enslaved African American Cooks Shaped American Cuisine
Friday, May 25 6:30pm – 8:00pm
In this presentation, historical interpreter and culinary historian Michael Twitty will discuss his research into the foodways of the enslaved and how their culture and experience shaped the American palate. Tickets: $12/$10 for Locust Grove members. Tickets on sale April 21, 2018; call (502) 897-9845.
Credit: KY State Parks
John James Audubon State Park will host a Ladies Spring Tea party and a Kentucky Chautauqua performance on May 12.
The tea party will feature delicious hors d’oeuvres and fine music at the John James Audubon State Park Museum at 11 a.m. Music will be provided by Henderson’s talented Keith Vincent. Jennifer Spence, the Audubon curator, will also give a brief talk about Lucy Audubon, John James Audubon’s wife.
The admission fee is $15, and registration is required. Call the museum to register and pay by phone at 270- 827-1893.
Following the tea, ladies will be invited to attend the Kentucky Chautauqua performance of “Aunt Molly Jackson, a Pistol Packin’ Woman” (1880-1960), portrayed by Anne Shelby.
Feisty, funny, and completely fearless, Aunt Molly Jackson lived for nearly 50 years in the coal camps of southeastern Kentucky, where her father, brothers, husband, and sons were miners. In the camps, Aunt Molly delivered babies, nursed the sick, organized for the union, and wrote songs that described the miners’ lives.
The Chautauqua performance will start at approximately 12:15 p.m. at the Audubon Museum. The performance is free to the public, with limited seating. Please call to register if you are interested. The Chautauqua performances are sponsored by Kentucky Humanities, which is a statewide source. Every year Kentucky Humanities provides funding for more than 550 public humanities programs. They are sponsored by local organizations.
For further information about the programs, contact Kim McGrew-Liggett, arts administrator at the John James Audubon Museum. Kim.mcgrew@ky.gov or (270) 827 1893.
“Daphne” lampworked glass by Steve Scherer
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea announces a new exhibit to celebrate the Center’s 15th Anniversary in 2018. This exhibit recognizes 39 artists from all across the state who over the years have shared their talents by giving demonstrations at the Center and bringing the creative process to life for visitors.
Artist demonstrations are central to the Kentucky Artisan Center and take place every Saturday throughout the year. Demonstrating artists talk with travelers and show the processes and techniques that they use to create their individual works. From jewelry to painting to woodturning and more, demonstrating artists give visitors a glimpse into their creative cauldrons.
The exhibit, which runs from April 7 to August 31, brings together new works, biographies, photos and videos of these artists from over the years. From 2003 to 2008 artist demonstrations at the Center were held every Friday and Saturday and in 2009, Saturday became the demonstration day. Since 2003, the Center has offered 1,026 artist demonstrations!
All of the artists included in this exhibit have demonstrated at least eight or more times. The regional group, the Berea Welcome Center Carvers are regulars every third Saturday of each month. Three different members demonstrate each time and two members, Jack Gann, of Berea and Ron McWhorter, of Richmond, have works in this exhibit.
Artists often demonstrate one aspect of their process but also display examples of the steps used to create their works. Theresa Kibby, of Somerset, brings visual images that explain all the steps in her jewelry making and uses her die press to cut out animal shapes from anodized colorful aluminum.
Woodturner Jamie Donaldson, of Georgetown, brings his wood turning lathe to the Center and visitors love seeing him turn vessels as the wood chips fly. Donaldson states, “the hours I spend at the lathe are a communion. The fellowship of wood and steel is a spiritual experience by itself, and the yield is always more than art or kindling.”
Kristal Gilkey, of Berea, brings her potter’s wheel to the center and amazes visitors as she throws vast numbers of pottery pieces on the wheel. She even manages to transport the work back home to her studio Alley Cat Pottery.
Glass artist Steve Scherer, of Edmonton, is a popular demonstrating artist who uses his gas torch to create intricate animals, figures and birds from glass. During his demonstration, Scherer often shows artisan center staff how to work the glass, as they make small animals under his supervision. The exciting process of flame and glass mesmerizes visitors. His figurative piece in the exhibit titled “Grace” was created with borosilicate glass and fumed with gold.
Two-dimensional artists have also demonstrated their techniques over the years, including printmaker Deborah Stratford, of Louisville, Louie Northern, Carl Von Fischer and Janice Harding Owens of Mount Vernon, and Janice Miller, of Lancaster. From formal landscapes to folk art paintings and linocut prints, artist demonstrations offer a wide array of 2-D techniques accompanied by educational handouts, free to visitors.
Participating artists include: Berea College Broomcraft; Robert Brigl, Bowling Green; Elizabeth Brown, Mt. Sterling; Sherrie Cocanougher, Parksville; Gerald Cooper, Berea; Jamie Donaldson, Georgetown; Derek Downing, Lexington; Lindy Evans, Berea; Jack Gann, Berea; Bob Gibson, Lawrenceburg; Kristal Gilkey, Berea; Donna & David Glenn, Louisville; Darlene Hellard, McKee; Joanne Hobbs, Bardstown; Theresa Kibby, Somerset; Marianna McDonald, Lexington; Ron McWhorter, Richmond; Janice Miller, Lancaster; Lonnie & Twyla Money, East Bernstadt; Janet Northern, Mt. Vernon; Louie Northern, Mt. Vernon; Janice Harding Owens, Mt. Vernon; Gin Petty, Berea; Christopher Robbins, Berea; Jeannette Rowlett, Berea; Pamela Rucker, Lancaster; Steve Scherer, Edmonton; Janet Serrenho, Lexington; Donna & Donnie Smith, Waco; Christa Smith, Elizabethtown; Shawnna Southerland, Berea; Deborah Stratford, Louisville, Carl Von Fischer, Mt. Vernon; Mike Ware, Hindman, Bill Whitt, Waco, and Elizabeth Worley, Lexington.
The Kentucky Artisan Center features works by more than 750 artisans from more than 100 counties across the Commonwealth. For more information about events call 859-985-5448, go to the center’s website or visit us on Facebook.
In celebration of the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Opening Ceremonies, Thunder Over Louisville, Four Roses has released a Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon Bottle featuring the iconic Thunder Over Louisville logo. Four Roses is also the Official Bourbon of Thunder Over Louisville.
The limited edition bottle, priced at $44.99, is exclusively available now at Cox Smoker’s Outlet and Spirit Shoppe, as well as Cox’s Evergreen Liquors. Thunder fans and bourbon connoisseurs will also have the opportunity to have their bottles signed by Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott and Senior Brand Ambassador and Bourbon legend Al Young.
The signings are scheduled for April 13 and April 18:
- Friday, April 13 – Senior Brand Ambassador and Bourbon Legend Al Young will be signing bottles at Cox’s St. Matthews from 4 – 7 PM.
- Wednesday, April 18 – Master Distiller Brent Elliott will be signing the Thunder bottle at Evergreen Liquors from 5 – 8 PM
Thunder Over Louisville – the Derby Festival’s Opening Ceremonies – is one of the more than 70 events produced by the Derby Festival in the spring. The 2018 Thunder Over Louisville, themed “A Disco Thunder,” is set for Saturday, April 21, and will be the 29th annual production.
Thousands of Louisvillians will be volunteering and participating in acts of compassion — from neighborhood cleanups to donating canned foods for the hungry – as part of the Mayor’s annual Give A Day Week of Service, which kicks off Saturday.
Give A Day week, which runs April 14-22, has become the city’s annual showcase of compassion and service. Started in 2011 as a one-day call to serve others, it has extended to more than a week. Last year’s Give A Day Week produced a record 180,000 volunteers and acts of compassion. Mayor Greg Fischer said this year’s goal is to top that, with even more volunteers, donations and other good deeds.
Give A Day is also an official Kentucky Derby Festival event, and kicks off the festival season. Companies and organizations of all sizes will have employee teams in action, including Humana, LG&E, Brown-Forman, GE, UPS, Computershare and Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated. So will churches and community groups. Also participating will be students, who will be doing everything from collecting personal items for donation to cleaning neighborhoods. This year, every student from JCPS, Archdiocese and private schools will have the opportunity to participate in a kindness project.
The Mayor said there are countless ways to participate, such as donating food and personal items to the Ronald McDonald House, helping serve dinner to kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana and even donating a story of cancer survival to Hope Scarves, whose mission is to share scarves, stories and hope with women facing cancer.
“We have made compassion one of our city’s core values, with the aim to lift each other up as a community,” the Mayor said. “The Give A Day Week of Service is the time for Louisville to shine and build on its reputation as one of the most compassionate cities in America.”
The Mayor will start the week visiting a series of projects Saturday, including one of the largest, the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community Wide Cleanup. It takes place at locations across the city to help make Louisville a greener and cleaner community, by picking up litter and debris from neighborhoods, greenspaces and roadways.
Other weekend events include the annual Build a Bed on Saturday at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, a food truck event for the homeless and an Eastern Cemetery cleanup on Sunday.
Volunteers are still needed for projects of all kinds. To register, go to the website: www.mygiveaday.com and click on “volunteer for an existing project.” In addition, groups and individuals are urged to use the same website to report projects and good deeds they are doing on their own.
“We’re proud to support our community in solving problems through volunteer service all year round,” said Theresa Reno-Weber, president and CEO of Metro United Way. “As a part of that continuous work, we are excited to again serve as the backbone of Mayor’s Give A Day by connecting volunteers to meaningful opportunities to give back and address the needs of our neighbors. Connecting people with the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done is at the heart of what we do in our fight for the education, financial stability and health of every person in our seven-county region.”
The Mayor will also participate in the student-led WE Day Walk of Compassion through downtown as a Give A Day event on April 17. WE Day Kentucky, in partnership with WLKY, celebrates student service projects and invites the public to join thousands of students in a lunch-time walk, carrying signs of compassion.
“The Mayor’s Give A Day initiative is a great opportunity for our students and staff to make a difference in their schools and community,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “I’m proud that 100 percent of our schools will once again be participating in this weeklong initiative – committing more than 1,100 days of service doing everything from cleaning up parks, playgrounds and roadways, to collecting food and toiletries for local food banks and shelters, to recognizing veterans and their families, among dozens of other projects. It says a lot about the culture of our schools and the commitment of our students and staff that they remain so dedicated to making an impact in their city.
This year’s Republic Bank Pegasus Parade will be a blast from the past for Festival fans. Festival officials announced the Grand Marshals and set the line-up for the parade at a special event tonight at Mark’s Feed Store. In honor of this year’s parade theme “ThrowbackThursday,” former coaching rivals and basketball fan favorites Joe B. Hall and Denny Crum will serve as the parade’s Co-Grand Marshals. It’s a familiar role for the coaches who also participated in the 1975 parade.
“The parade is the event that started the Festival 63 years ago and this year’s march will be a trip down memory lane,” said Mike Berry, KDF President and CEO. “Who better to evoke great memories than two coaches responsible for nine of the Final Four trips and three of the NCAA championships for UofL and UK.”
In addition to announcing the Grand Marshals, floats and inflatable units participating in this year’s parade drew for positions for annual march down Broadway. This year’s theme of “ThrowbackThursday,” will be used by sponsoring companies to help direct the building of floats and costuming of the inflatable handlers and crew. Participants were invited to pick their favorite parade themes from years past to decorate their units. The floats and inflatables compete for various awards based on originality, eye appeal, theme representation, animation, attention to detail and enthusiasm. Marching bands use the theme to help with musical selection and it is the basis of costume and concept design for the other marching units.
The 2018 Parade will feature 10 floats, many of them built by the employees of the companies sponsoring them. The following companies drew for their float position in the parade at tonight’s event, as well as the sponsors of the five participating inflatable character balloons.
Floats:
City of St. Matthews
Grand Lodge of Kentucky
Hwang’s Martial Arts
Kentucky Proud
Kosair Shriners/Kosair Charities
Louisville Parks & Recreation
Norton Healthcare
Second Chance @ Life
Shirley’s Way – Ride to Ride Out Cancer
The Fillies, Inc.
Inflatable Balloon Characters:
CareSource “Cookie Monster”
Horseshoe Southern Indiana “Horseshoe”
LG&E “Louie the Lightning Bug”
Republic Bank “Peggy Bank”
Waystar “Star”
Before the parade, fans can see the floats, inflatables, equestrian units and much more on display at the Pegasus Parade Preview Party Presented by Louisville Mega Cavern on Tuesday, May 1, at the Kentucky Exposition Center, in South Wing C. Admission is a 2018 Pegasus Pin.
Tickets for the Parade are on sale now online at KDF.org. Ticket prices are $10 for bleacher seats, $12 chair seating and $30 VIP seats. Republic Bank is the Title Sponsor of the parade with Contributing Sponsor, KentuckyOne Health. Official Hotel: The Galt House.
