THUNDER SPONSORS STEP UP ONCE AGAIN

Derby Festival's Opening Ceremonies Set for April 21st

The Kentucky Derby Festival is pleased to announce the corporate sponsors of Thunder Over Louisville, the Derby Festival’s Opening Ceremonies, to be held April 21 on the Louisville waterfront. Sponsoring the 2007 Thunder show will be Caesars Indiana, E.ON U.S., UPS and newcomer Meijer.  In addition to the four major sponsors, McDonald’s Restaurants of Kentuckiana will return as sponsor of the McDonald’s Thunder Funder Program.

“We are very happy to welcome meijer to the Thunder Over Louisville family and we’re thrilled with the continuing sponsorship of Caesars Indiana, E.ON U.S. and UPS,” said Mike Berry, Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO. “Thunder Over Louisville just seems to get bigger and better every year, and the generosity of our sponsors allows us to maintain the show at the level the public has come to expect. We’re also grateful to McDonald’s Restaurants of Kentuckiana for once again sponsoring the Thunder Funder Program.”

Last year, 91 area McDonald’s restaurants participated in the Thunder Funder Program, donating 10 cents from the sale of every 32-ounce drink sold over a seven-week period to help fund Thunder Over Louisville. The McDonald’s program raised $92,520, in addition to $58,000 generated in small business contributions and individual incentive packages purchased during a televised campaign held last spring and online at www.mcdonaldsthunderfunder.com.  This year’s McDonald’s Thunder Funder Program will begin on April 2 and run until May 13.  The televised campaign is scheduled for Wednesday, April 4.

This year’s Thunder will feature the Air Show beginning at 3 p.m., followed by a 30-minute fireworks show starting at 9 p.m. One of the show’s highlights will be the first-ever Thunder appearance of the U.S. Army Sky Soldiers, an elite group of pilots flying four Cobra Attack Helicopters in demo teams. Also scheduled to appear in the Air Show is the U.S.A.F. F-22A Raptor, a state-of-the-art stealth aircraft that was sidelined last year due to bad weather.

Thunder Over Louisville - the Derby Festival's Opening Ceremonies - is one of the more than seventy events produced by the Derby Festival in the spring. The 2007 Thunder Over Louisville, themed “The Magic of Thunder,” is set for Saturday, April 21 and will be the  will be the 18th annual production.  The show is sponsored by Caesars Indiana, E.ON U.S., meijer and UPS. 

The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin 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. Thunder alone contributes $31 million of that estimate to both sides of the Ohio River.  This involvement has made the Festival the largest single-attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.