Thunder fires the opening salvo of Kentucky Derby Festival, and it is usually held on the Saturday two weeks before Derby Day. However, because that's Easter Weekend in 2000, Thunder will be moved back a week to April 15, 2000. The schedule usually begins with a midafternoon air show and continue through the fireworks show around 9 p.m., all on the Ohio River waterfront in downtown Louisville.

According to the Kentucky Derby Festival's Home Page, Thunder 1998 fired off 34,126 shells and 46 tons of fireworks during the 28-minute fireworks show. New in 1998 were massive 16-inch shells and more full bridge affects on the Second Street bridge.


Officials say that Thunder exhausted the entire supply of Vera Lights in the United States and had to bring in additional lights from Europe to complete the 1998 show. The total combined candle power exceeds 1 billion: The entire population of Louisville would have to stand on the shore with each person holding more than 1,000 candles apiece to equal the luminary power of these lights.


Thunder reportedly mobilizes the world's largest integrated sound system, including 325 turbo speaker cabinets with a combined power of 425,000 watts: The equivalent sound power of eight Rolling Stones concerts.


The 1998 Thunder Air Show, the opening entertainment as the expectant crowd gathers for evening fireworks, was a six-hour aerial extravaganza featuring more than 100 civilian and active-duty military aircraft. Military aircraft included the United States Marine's AV-8B Harrier Jet Fighter, the B-1B Long Range Strategic Bomber, the F-117A Stealth Fighter, a variety of jet fighters, and Apache attack and Blackhawk helicopters.


Thunder can be viewed from a wide range of locations centering on Louisville's downtown Riverfront, including the Riverfront Plaze/Belvedere on Main Street, and the Great Lawn and Linear Park in the city's new riverfront development. The Ninth and River Road parking lot and the RiverWalk west of Ninth Street to the Portland Canal offer additional viewing points. Festival vending and sound systems will also extend along River Road to just under the Kennedy bridge; and on the Indiana side of the Ohio in Clarksville's Ashland Park and in Jeffersonville from the Kennedy Bridge to Spring Street.


Many visitors ask about viewing Thunder Over Louisville from a hotel room. The only two area hotels with possible views are the Galt House and Galt House East at Fourth Street and the Ohio River in downtown Louisville, and the Ramada Inn on the riverside in Jeffersonville, Ind. Thunder is really an outdoor event, though, and the throngs that attend are part of the fun.


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