Shared By: Kentucky Derby Festival
Photos by: Kentucky Derby Museum
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While the Kentucky Derby Festival happens only once a year in the spring, you can get a glimpse of the Festival year-round inside the Kentucky Derby Museum. The Festival’s newly renovated exhibit, sponsored by the Kentucky Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet, was unveiled just in time for this year’s celebration.
The exhibit on a background of vibrant colors showcases events and artifacts synonymous with the Festival season, including the Festival’s signature Pegasus, those colorful Festival jackets, Pegasus Pins, the Royal Court regalia, and Thunder Over Louisville. Guests are also treated to a multi-screen digital slide show with photos featuring the Festival’s beloved events.
There’s a story with each part of the exhibit:
Thunder Over Louisville, an event known for its size and stature, gets its own wall-sized… and as close to life-sized photo…with those signature fireworks on the Ohio River and a neon sign that spells out Thunder. It is big and bold, but for Thunder would you expect anything less? You can almost feel the rumble…
Just as dazzling as fireworks is the Royal Court’s regalia displayed in a glass case next door, complete with the robe, crown, and scepter. One of the Festival’s oldest events, the Fillies Derby Ball has been a cherished tradition since 1957. Produced by The Fillies, Inc., a non-profit women-led organization of community volunteers, the highlight of the Derby Ball is the coronation of the Kentucky Derby Festival Queen, who is chosen by the spin-of-the wheel among the five Derby Festival Princesses. Each year, the Queen wears a special crown and coronation robe and is given a scepter to fulfill her royal duties.
Five video screens take center stage in the exhibit, scrolling through colorful photos from the many events produced each year by the Kentucky Derby Festival. There’s sure to be a photo from one of your favorite events and you might even see yourself! If you need more information on any of those events, there’s a QR code in the exhibit to take visitors directly to the Festival’s website.
If you’ve ever wondered why the Festival’s symbol is a Pegasus, where those hot-pink jackets came from, or how many Pegasus Pins there are…there’s now an exhibit (and an explanation) for that. To give you a little hint, the Kentucky Derby Festival established the Pegasus as its official symbol with the introduction of the Pegasus Parade, the Festival’s founding event in 1956.
The winged horse of Greek mythology, the Pegasus was chosen to symbolize the magic, energy and excitement the Festival hoped to generate through its first parade…and all the events added in the years to follow. Mission accomplished.
Fans can see this exhibit (and many more) all year at the Kentucky Derby Museum during its regular business hours.
The Queen’s velvet robe is adorned with a Fleur-de-lis representing the city of Louisville, a Golden Horseshoe representing the Kentucky Derby, Fifteen stars representing the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the winged horse of mythology - Pegasus, a red rose, and a crown. The coronation robe on display in the museum exhibit was commissioned by The Fillies, Inc. in 1974 to mark the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby. It was created by the late Marie Gatipon, a prominent New Orleans creator of Mardi Gras coronation regalia. A new robe just as ornate was commissioned in 2019 to be used for the Queen.
Different sets of the Queen’s crown and scepter have been used at the Derby Ball over the years with the most recent created in 2000.
Louisville’s own Merkley Jewelers was commissioned to design and create the crown in 2000. The crown includes detailed images of a jockey’s helmet, horseshoes, trumpets, a paddlewheel, balloon and Fleur-de-lis. White and yellow gold and sterling silver were used in the design with clouds represented by real pearls and an emerald for the eye of Pegasus.
Seng Jewelers of Louisville designed and created the Royal Scepter in 2000. On the top of the scepter is a crown, adorned with the Fleur-de-lis, and surrounded by pearls. The center portion of the staff is shaped like a julep cup and features three images etched into the silver: The Fillies Crest; a Fleur-delis and the Derby Festival corporate logo. The lower portion includes two perpendicular horseshoes on the base. The name of the Queen is engraved on a silver band on the shaft of the scepter.
