kyderbyfestival
The Great BalloonFest has been held annually for 52 years in celebration of the Kentucky derby. This year the Festival had two L&N Federal Credit Union Great Balloon Glows on April 24th and 25th. At 9 p.m. at Waterfront Park with 20 hot air balloons lighting up the night sky. On Thursday night the event got cut short due to rain. Noticeable companies with hot air balloons in the glow include Norton’s Children Hospital, Jarboe’s Heating and Cooling, Kentucky Kingdom, Zaxby’s, and more.
The L&N Federal Credit Union also holds the Rush-Hour Race, and the Great Balloon Race. Both were set to take place around 7 a.m. at Bowman Field. The Great Balloon Race was postponed to 6 p.m. on April 26th due to wind and low clouds and the Rush-Hour Race was cancelled on April 25th due to heavy rain. Normally The Rush-Hour Race is where the balloons are called hares and hounds. The hares put big X’s around the city and the hounds have to drop markers as close as they can on top of the X’s. The Great Balloon Race is a more standard balloon race where they take off at the same time and race to the end target. This year the winner of the Great Balloon Race was Bill Smith with the Kroger.co hot air balloon.
Even with unexpected weather conditions this year the annual event of The Great BalloonFest was still able to be held with some push backs.