2014 Pegasus Parade with Route Map and Street Closure Map
2014 Pegasus Parade
Route Map and Street Closure Map
It’s time for the show piece of the Kentucky Derby Festival – the 2014 Pegasus Parade! The Pegasus Parade will proceed down Broadway on Thursday, May 1 at 5:00 p.m.
The Pegasus Parade is the oldest event in the Kentucky Derby Festival. The Parade began in 1956 with a modest budget of $640. It is now one of the largest parades in the country, attracting a wide variety of celebrity participants and thousands of spectators every year. The parade lasts about two hours, spans seventeen blocks, and offers free public viewing for about 90% of the parade route. It is estimated that the Pegasus Parade brings over $22 Million to the local economy – quite a long way from its humble origins!
This year’s parade theme is “Call of the Wild”, and appropriately features Jeff Corwin, of Animal Planet fame, as its theme marshal. The Kentucky marshal is actor and Lexington native, Josh Hopkins of “Cougar Town” fame.
The Pegasus Parade has a lengthy history of attracting a wide array of celebrities. Some past Grand Marshals include local celebrities such as Muhammad Ali, Colonel Harland Sanders, and Diane Sawyer. It also has attracted musicians such as Loretta Lynn and Bill Monroe, actors including Williams Shatner and John Wayne, and the 2013 University of Louisville Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams. The 2013 Teams took the National Championship and Runner-Up positions respectively and were greeted with great acclaim at the Parade.
In addition to the celebrity marshals, the parade is kicked off with the inflatable Pegasus Balloon, “Peggy Bank”, followed by some of the United States’ finest equestrian...