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You've Gotta See This!


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2 weeks before the running of the Kentucky Derby, hundreds of thousands of people line the riverbank in downtown Louisville, KY to watch the greatest pyrotechnic display on the continent. Thunder over Louisville is the largest annual firework display in all of North America, and one of the largest in the entire world. For 28 minutes, over 60 tons of firework shells are launched from eight 400 ft long barges separated by the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge which is also laced with thousands of pyrotechnic devices. A new theme is chosen every year for the show, and the soundtrack is built around it. Thunder also has one of the top 5 airshows in the USA but the real reason 800,000+ people wait as much as a day in advance is the amazing firework show. This year's show was "The Magic of Thunder" and you should check out every minute of this fantastic display!

 

Watch Thunder Over Louisville 2007!

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Um, I live in Louisville and see this almost every year. If you count TV I've seen it every time. Sometimes people make it out to be more than it really is, don't get me wrong it is amazing though. I guess after seeing it 9 times and getting stuck in the hours of bumper to bumper traffic it starts to diminish. But yeah, I was there, I think this years was one of the best.

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Wow, these are awesome! Thanks for posting them.

 

You're welcome! There was a family beside us that was from Pittsburgh who came because they saw something on the Discovery Channel about it. This is one of those experiences were you just have to be there to really take it all in, videos don't do it justice! After the show I asked them what they thought and they were speechless, then they decided that they will be making the trek again next year lol.

 

I have some videos of previous shows on google video, and you can see how much the show has grown in scale over the 18 years of it's existance.

Thunder 1994

Thunder 1996

Thunder 1998

Thunder 2001

Thunder 2004 Grand Finale

 

I live in Louisville too coasterfan, and this year the traffic wasn't bad for us at all! Although we decided to leave the parking garage at 12:55 am. There was NO traffic on the roads, I was suprised. Hopefully they will keep the traffic plan for next year because I usually don't get home till about 3 am.

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A couple years ago at the Triple-A Minor League Baseball All-Star game in Sacramento, CA, they said they had the Biggest Firework Show ever and when I saw it, it did seem BIG. But it couldve been the Biggest in the West. But besides that one, the one in DL is pretty big too.

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A couple years ago at the Triple-A Minor League Baseball All-Star game in Sacramento, CA, they said they had the Biggest Firework Show ever and when I saw it, it did seem BIG. But it couldve been the Biggest in the West. But besides that one, the one in DL is pretty big too.

 

It gets kinda complicated when explaining. Thunder Over Louisville is the largest annual fireworks show in America. The record for the largest show (1 time) happened New Year's in some city in South America I think. There are only two or three shows that is bigger than Thunder and those are in other countries like Japan, so really to see anything bigger than Thunder you pretty much have to travel outside of the USA.

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A couple years ago at the Triple-A Minor League Baseball All-Star game in Sacramento, CA, they said they had the Biggest Firework Show ever and when I saw it, it did seem BIG. But it couldve been the Biggest in the West. But besides that one, the one in DL is pretty big too.

 

It gets kinda complicated when explaining. Thunder Over Louisville is the largest annual fireworks show in America. The record for the largest show (1 time) happened New Year's in some city in South America I think. There are only two or three shows that is bigger than Thunder and those are in other countries like Japan, so really to see anything bigger than Thunder you pretty much have to travel outside of the USA.

 

 

Yea I think it was the largest in the west.

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WOW! That looks amazing! Thanks for posting! I really enjoyed the pictures! So do they really like shoot them off of a bridge? That so does not seem safe.

~Matthew

 

Yep, they sure do. After 2002 they started cramming the fireworks towards the middle because some of the debris and sparks were making it to the crowds near it but now it's absolutely safe for spectators. During the week before Thunder they close off the bridge to set up the fireworks and they keep it closed until afternoon the day after. What's funny is that if you walk across the bridge during any part of the year you can see permanent smudge marks at the very top of the girders from the fireworks!

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I love Thunder over Louisville! I've gone down to the waterfront the past 6 years, and wouldn't miss it for a thing. My father's work use to rent one of the white company cabana like tents with the buffets and stuff, but they stopped it and we have just gone to Waterfront Park the past two years. This year's display was great, but didn't like the music arrangment (the theme this year was Magic, WTF) Anyways, the traffic was horrendous as usual, but watching the "freak show" as my dad calls it while crawling down the highway is always fun. Definitely my favorite Kentucky Derby Festival event, followed by race day itself.

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Well it was magic because that was the overall theme for the festival this year. I loved the soundtrack, classical techno/dance whatever you want to call it! What was your location? I was in the top most corner on the left of the sand area where the big black thingy sits in front of lol.

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Facing the river, I was on the far right side of the Great Lawn right up against the random mini port inlet thing with some boats docked up. We were almost right under the giant black speaker which is always suspended from a crane.

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Ah ok. I remember how mad I was in 2006 because they had the massive set of suspended speakers not very far away and couldn't hear the music. This year was different though. They had some speakers hanging under the 2nd street bridge above the warf and we could hear it at waterfront park crystal clear! When the tested the system the night before, my friend and I had to turn away not to far from the Belle cause it was so loud. I felt sorry for the people who were actually sitting right under it!

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