By: Aimee Boyd
Photos by: Kentucky Derby Festival
Sponsored Content
The hunt for gold every spring around Louisville (and the state) doesn’t require digging or mining. This gold is hidden inside small envelopes at hundreds of retailers in Kentuckiana as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival’s annual Pegasus Pin Sponsorship Program. For Fans (and Fanatics) it’s the luck of the draw to find a pin envelope with a Gold Pegasus Pin inside...but every pin can win!
The Pegasus Pins are small pieces of plastic that have become a signature symbol of springtime in Kentucky and a collector’s item. The Pegasus Pin program was started as an awareness campaign for the Festival in 1973. At that time, only 10,000 of the plastic pins were produced. Since then, the pin sponsorships have become one of the primary sources of funding for Derby Festival events, with more than 200,000 pins made each year. The pins in essence are individual sponsorships and a way fans can support their favorite events and the annual community celebration.
Each year the Pegasus Pin has a new design. The Derby Festival collaborated with Churchill Downs on this year’s Pin, which celebrates the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. It features the Festival’s Pegasus symbol and official teal color along with the number “150” in red, a signature color of the Kentucky Derby.
“The Kentucky Derby Festival is a month-long celebration and nearly 70-year-old tradition that started because of the Kentucky Derby. We are honored to partner with Churchill Downs in creating a Pegasus Pin that marks this milestone and will also be a one-of-a-kind collector’s piece for both our community and our guests,” said Matt Gibson, Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO.
Taking a lesson from Willy Wonka the Festival added the Gold Winner Pegasus Pin to the program in 1987. This year, the lucky finders of the coveted gold pin can register to win a $20,000 cash Grand Prize drawn the week after the Kentucky Derby. With more than 18,500 Gold Winner Pegasus Pins in circulation, the odds of finding gold are approximately 1 in 13. For those who don’t find a gold pin inside their envelope, they’re still in luck because any 2024 pin can be registered for a chance to win one of this year’s 15 weekly prizes, which add up to more than $40,000 in giveaways.
Plus, the small Pegasus Pin (gold or not) comes with BIG perks! A Pegasus Pin serves as free admission to many Festival events (one pin can be used over and over for admission to different events), the pin envelope itself includes coupons with discounts at local retail outlets, and several local businesses offer deals for just wearing a Pegasus Pin into their establishment.
Said Gibson, “We hope everyone will ‘Pin the Town Derby’ and wear a Pegasus Pin to help celebrate our favorite season in Kentucky.” The Pegasus Pin is a ticket to Festival fun, a fashion staple during Derby season, a symbol of spring in Kentucky, and worth their weight in gold. Sold for $7 in advance and $10 at the entrance to events, the little plastic pins more than pay for themselves through all their added value.
For more information on the program, the perks, where you can hunt for gold pins, and to register your pin for prizes visit PegasusPins.com. Let’s Pin the Town Derby!