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The 2019 Kentucky Derby Festival promises to attract hundreds of thousands of people to the Louisville area for events such as the Thunder Over Louisville fireworks display and the Pegasus Parade. This year’s festival will be the last at the helm for its longtime leader. Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO Mike Berry is retiring this year.
Berry is credited with building the festival into the behemoth it is today, generating $127.9 million for the local economy and engaging 4,000 volunteers to organize its numerous events, according to the festival’s homepage.
This week on WFPL’s In Conversation, we talk to Berry about his tenure and his reflections on how the Derby Festival expanded from one event in 1956 to more than 70 this year. We’ll also be joined by other KDF officials to talk about this year’s events and the task of staging the two-week festival.
Listen to In Conversation live on 89.3 WFPL Friday at 11 a.m. or follow along with our live tweets at @WFPLnews. Call with your questions or comments at 502-814-TALK or tweet us with the hashtag #WFPLconversation. We’re also on Facebook.
