Huh? There's a Horse Race in Town?

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I swear, people will use any excuse to party. Louisville has been partying for two weeks now. Apparently there's a horse race in town. That means PAR-TEE!!!! We call it the Kentucky Derby Festival. It starts with one of the largest fireworks shows in the world, Thunder Over Louisville. From there it gets....well, silly. My favorite events during the Kentucky Derby Festival: The Run for the Rosé, where waiters from various restaurants in town carry trays of wine through an obstacle course with the goal of spilling the least amount of wine during the run. The Run for the Rodents, which is pretty much what the name implies: a rat race. I have to love this one: my alma mater, Spalding University, puts it on. The bed race used to be more fun. It was called "Bed-lam in the streets," and the bed race (yes, real beds on wheels) was held, as the name implies, in the streets. They've moved it indoors and taken the fun out of it. All of this, plus the Great Steamboat Race, the Derby Parade, and countless parties with so many A-list celebrities you'd swear it was Oscar night. They used to refer to Friday, Oaks Day (the Kentucky Oaks, the premiere race for three-year-old fillies), as "Louisville's Day at the Downs;" however, that's even been overrun with large crowds similar to Derby Day. So, for the past three years, they've dubbed the Thursday before the Derby "Thurby" (rhymes with "Derby") so the "locals" have their own "day at the Downs." Before the Kentucky Oaks, the race for the fillies, a great recent tradition known as the "parade of survivors" is held. This year, being the 142nd running of the Oaks, one hundred and forty two survivors of breast cancer will walk the Churchill Downs track. Then on Saturday it's eight hours of drinking before a two-minute horse race that 99% of the people won't even see. And, of course, they don't really care that they don't see it. The Kentucky Derby is more about the party than the race. Sunday everything will be back to normal in Louisville....for 50 weeks, that is.