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 Thunder Over Louisville, the annual kickoff event of the Kentucky Derby Festival, is an airshow and fireworks display held in late April in Louisville, Kentucky. It is the largest annual fireworks display in North America.[1] Thunder lasts throughout the day, and the fireworks display last for around half an hour, along with a synchronized soundtrack through PA and radio. An average of 625,000 people have attended each year since 1997, lining the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville, and across the river in Jeffersonville and Clarksville, Indiana. Some also watch from the river on boats, docked in positions auctioned off for charity.[2] Eight 400-foot barges launch the fireworks, provided by Zambelli Fireworks Internationale, from both sides of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge (Second Street Bridge), and more fireworks are launched from the bridge itself. The estimated attendance at Thunder is usually more than quintuple that of the main attraction, the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs.
[edit] History The fireworks show began in 1990 at the Kentucky Exposition Center, where more than 35,000 people attended a concert by Janie Fricke and a 4,000-shell fireworks show. In 1991 the event moved to Waterfront Park, and the Zambellis began handling the fireworks. The Air Show began in 1992, and has featured such notable aircraft as the Harrier, the B-2 (Stealth Bomber), and the F-117 (Stealth Fighter) as well as the Apache Attack Helicopter. The event expanded rapidly in scale and attendance; by 1996 more shells were exploded in the first minute than in the entire 1990 show. In 1997, the Air Force designated Thunder Over Louisville as one of two main events for its 50th anniversary celebration. More than 125 military aircraft performed that year, making it the largest combined fireworks and air show in the United States. The event relies heavily on corporate donations. In 2000, when Kroger pulled out after 10 years of sponsorship by Ronald McDonald, the Kentucky Derby Festival was left scrambling for money. They announced the Thunder Funder program, in which individuals can make small donations. In 2006, McDonald's announced that they would be the title sponsor for Thunder Funder and donate 10 cents from the sale of every 32-ounce drink in a commemorative cup to the Derby Festival. The fireworks show has grown in size and scope every year, with over 52,000 shells used in 2004, and 60,000 in 2005.[3] In 2006, the fireworks show lasted for 26 minutes. The 2007 event tied 2006 for record crowd, estimated at 800,000. Such counts do not include thousands of people who watch from area rooftops at "Thunder parties" held by individuals with proximity advantaged addresses in downtown, Old Louisville and the Butchertown neighborhood immediately upriver from downtown. Thunder Over Louisville, has been televised by local television stations since the early 1990s. The 2007 version was the first to be broadcast entirely in HDTV. Past telecasts have used two or three HDTV cameras for the broadcast. Each year, the show is rebroadcast on the 4th of July, on the U.S. military's American Forces Network. [edit] Themes and sponsors
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