PEGASUS PINS ARE HERE, INCLUDING NEW THUNDER PIN
2004-03-15T12:53:06
FIVE NEW DESIGNS THIS YEAR!
The Kentucky Derby Festival premiered the 32nd installment of Pegasus Pins today at a gala event at the Brown Theatre. The public enjoyed a full stage production, complete with costume characters and special effects from 5 - 6 pm. Beginning this week, the pins will start to appear at more than 1,000 participating banks and retail outlets. Pin Envelopes will contain one of the five designs for a $3 sponsorship, along with two coupons from area businesses.
For the second year in a row, the Pegasus Sponsorship Pins will be offered in five different designs – the traditional Pegasus icon, Fifth Third Bank Hole In One Contest, Great Steamboat Race, BB&T Great Bed Races, and Thunder Over Louisville. Any of the five pins will get their owner into Derby Festival pin-admission events such as the US Bank Great Balloon Race and Glow, Run for the Rose’, BB&T Great Bed Races, Republic Bank Pegasus Parade Preview and 10 days of free concerts at the Waterfront Chow Wagon.
The event gave Derby Festival patrons their first opportunity to purchase a Pegasus Pin sponsorship. Pin enthusiasts and collectors were also able to continue a tradition introduced during the 2003 Festival – Derby Festival Pin Trading. They traded their metal Derby Festival pins with the Derby Festival Princesses, volunteers and other Festival Fans. The pin trading starter kit has a new look this year with 5 new Special Edition Pin Trading Pins. They will be available at all Pin Trading events and at A Taste of Kentucky. Derby Festival metal Event Pins will represent 22 events this year in addition to a metal Pegasus Pin and are $6 each. For more information on pin trading, visit www.derbyfestival.org or call the BellSouth Derby Festival hotline at 540-1127.
Started as an awareness campaign for the not-for-profit civic celebration in 1973, the plastic pins are now one of four primary sources of funding the Derby Festival events. It has become a way for the community to have ownership in the Festival and show their pride in the region’s largest celebration.
In addition to a pin and coupons, each Pegasus Sponsor has the chance to win prizes if they find a gold pin in their envelope. (Odds of finding a gold pin are 1 in 24). There will be 17,000 instant prizes available. Gold Pin Winners can register their gold pins to win one of 15 grand prizes (including an Ultimate High Roller Las Vegas Vacation and a Cadillac), which will be awarded at the Grand Prize Drawing on Monday, May 10, at The Gardens at 6 PM and sponsored by Park Community Federal Credit Union.
The five designs of the 2004 Pegasus Pin Series and all metal event pins were created by artist, Joe Weber. Weber is also the official Derby Festival Poster Artist.
The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 325 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus sponsorships and event participation. It entertains more than 1.5 million people in a two-week period and has a local economic impact of more than $93 million. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world. The Festival has been bringing the community together in celebration since 1956.
