Hunter S. Thompson and the Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby Festival is in progress here in Louisville. Here are some of today's scheduled events:

• Pajama Party & Bed Making Competition
• Festival Great Balloon Tour
•  Great Balloon Glimmer
•  Festival Great BalloonFest
•  Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront
• 4th Street Live! Kentucky Derby Festival (on-going) Party
• Kentucky Derby Festival Running Wild Expo
• Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront

There are many, many more events scheduled all the way up to the Run for the Roses on May 5. (If you're interested, click HERE for the schedule)

The Kentucky Derby hasn't always had so many activities. Originally, there wasn't  a festival. Back in 1875, when it began, it was a hose race. (Admittedly a special horse race witnessed by a crowd exceeding 10,000).

Then, through the years, the Derby celebration began to expand beyond a horse race on the first Saturday in May to a couple of weeks of all sorts of stuff:

The Great Steam Boat Race

Kentucky Derby Bed Races

Kentucky Derby Marathon and Mini-Marathon

Thunder Over Louisville

The Great Balloon Glow

The Great Balloon Race

And lots and lost of parties!

Oh! And did I say there is a horse race, too?

Uh, do you remember that the title of the post is Hunter S. Thompson and the Kentucky Derby? Lots about the Kentucky Derby, but the great Gonzo dude has yet to make an appearance. You see, when I began writing this post I was going to provide a short introduction to the Kentucky Derby and then re-post one of the first blog posts I ever wrote that centered on a story H. S. T. wrote about the 1970 Derby entitled, The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved

It seems I have taken up too much space with my intro. If you want to read my 2005 post that was intending to past here, you can at HERE. 

And if you want to read Hunter's story, it is included in this book:

Have fun, ya'll