The Kentucky Derby Festival: A two week celebration leading up to the greatest two minutes in sports – The Kentucky Derby!   How does a state, known for bourbon, horse racing, and “The Turtle Man” ring in the first race of the Triple Crown?  By lighting up the Ohio River, flying high in the sky, sampling the best food and drink that Kentucky has to offer, and so much more!

The Kentucky Derby Festival, attended annually by an estimated 1.5 million people, had an extra-special participant this year as Zappos.com joined the sponsorship team for the first time!  The Zappos.com hot air balloon delighted morning commuters in the Rush Hour Race, placing second with veteran pilot Charlie H.  The race preceded the breathtaking Balloon Glow that occurred on Friday, April 28^th, lighting up the Kentucky night sky to the delight of at least 180,000 people.

But the balloon wasn’t the only way Zappos’ presence was felt at the 57^th annual Festival.  Zappos employees and guests had the best seats in the house for the kick-off airshow and fireworks display, Thunder Over Louisville.  Spectators watched the largest fireworks presentation in the nation from the Second Street Bridge, with a vantage point that not only gave them an up-close perspective of the pyrotechnics, but allowed for a view of the Indiana and Kentucky shows, synced up as they blasted on both sides of the bridge.  The presentation of the Zappos.com Balloon was scheduled for the Fest-i-Ville Balloon Glimmer, that, despite weather cancellations, allowed for a fantastic time at the large, catered Zappos tent closest to the main stage action!  In addition, over 250,000 people lined the streets to see the floats of the Pegasus Parade, the Zappos Zone filled up with 3 sections of fans, both employees (who donated to Relay for Life in exchange for coveted bleacher seats), and members of the community who were randomly selected to join in the family fun!

More entertainment was slathered on the two week celebration as Bed and Steamboat Races took off, free music concerts, including Eddie Money, George Clinton, and AWOLNATION, rocked the river, and nearly 18,000 pairs of feet and wheels pounded the pavement of the Derby Festival Marathon and Mini Marathon.  Some familiar faces could be seen among the runners bounding towards the finish line.  Zappos employee Kari H called the 13.1 miles “a lot of fun”,” running with her father who had come from Atlanta, GA to participate in his first half-marathon.  The 8th mile was the highlight for many runners, when the course rounded the infield in Churchill Downs -- an area that would look dramatically different the following weekend, when the crowd descended on the 138^th Kentucky Derby.

The Kentucky Derby Festival has come to represent the spirit that enlivens the city of Louisville.  Hopefully Zappos.com can continue to add its own energy to the celebration for years to come!

Fast Facts:

Attendance Numbers

Thunder Over Louisville- 400,000

Balloon Fest-i-Ville and Glimmer (with Zappos Zone catered tent) - 55,000

BalloonFest Balloon Glow - 180,000

Derby Festival Marathon/Mini/Expo - 19,733

Derby Festival Marathon/Mini Finishers - 16,500

Pegasus Parade - 250,000 ticket holders (more without tickets)

Pegasus Parade Viewership - Televised to over 140,000 viewers on NBC affiliate Wave3 ALONE!

The fabulous hats, all those Lilly Pulitzer dresses and Vineyard Vines, the mint julep-induced rowdiness in the stands…derby style was definitely in full force this past week at the Oaks and Derby in Louisville!

We got to check out the festivities first hand and we have to say, it was everything we imagined and more. These were just a few of the well-dressed Derby attendees that we met at both Oaks and Derby. It was so refreshing to see such dapper guys and put-together ladies showing off Derby style in all its Southern glory.

Zappos.com stylist Kaya strikes a pose in his '70s-inspired Derby outfit.

Zappos.com trend manager Alison struts in her one-of-a-kind pink ensemble for the Oaks.

From Vegas glitzy to preppy-chic, Derby style definitely runs the gamut!

This week, we highlighted a classic print and classic style worthy of the festivities at Derby!

Polka dots are one of the most coveted prints of the season! This slightly nostalgic print looks fabulous as the focal point or accent to your ensemble. Go beyond the basic black and white and try out some fun color polka dots for summer!

Derby style isn’t just for the big race in Louisville! These prim and proper outfits would be just as appropriate for a dressier daytime event like a garden wedding or party. Think classic, pretty and dapper. And ladies, it's all about the hat--the bigger the better. If you're not into hats, try a fabulous fascinator in your hair to glam up your look.

Planning to attend the Derby this year?  There is one thing you will definitely want to do before the big race: place a bet!

Once you approach the betting window, be sure to follow these simple steps to ensure your bet is placed properly:

 1. State the name of the track where the race is being held.   Remember there are many tracks around the world that are operating on any given day, so clarifying which track you're referring to is important.  If you’re at the Kentucky Derby, then you’ll want to say, “Churchill”.

 2. Present the race number you're betting on.  Typically, there are anywhere between 9 and 12 races ran per day, so make sure you get the race number correct.

 3. Specify the dollar amount of your wager and the type of bet you’re placing.  Many tracks offer different types of wagers.  Some of the easiest for beginners are "win", "place", and "show" bets.  For one of these three bets the amount you wager is the amount you pay the teller.

 *Beware that the money you wager doesn’t always equal the total cost for the bet.  For instance, if you were to place a $2 bet on what is called a "trifecta wheel", with the winner over three “wheeled” second or third place picks, the total cost to you would be $12.  When you “wheel” your bet, your odds of winning are increased, hence the additional $10.  With this bet, you would only win what the official $2 trifecta payout was according to the final odds after the race is over.

Remember:  When mentioning the horses you want to bet on, be sure to refer to the numbers that are listed in the racing program, and not their actual names. 

 Once you’ve completed these steps, the teller will print out the ticket.  Double-check your ticket to make sure it’s what you wanted. Now you’re ready to sit back, sip your Mint Julep, and watch the race, hopefully finding a little horse-player luck.

 Helpful Hints:

- Remember to have fun with betting, do your research, and understand the risk involved before gambling.

- Always have your bet written down before you approach the betting window. This ensures you won’t forget, and you won’t hold up the line behind you.  A good place to write it down is your program.

- Be sure to bring cash.  Churchill is cash only betting, but if you forget, they do have ATM’s there for your convenience.

- If you're not able to make it out in person there is always the online betting option that may cost you a small fee to set up, but usually includes free live streaming video of every race.

Every Zappos.com department goes on team outings on occasion, which allows us to hang out with people on our teams that we may not usually work with every day. It may be a day at the park, a day volunteering in the community, but this time we went to the local pub and played "barley pop" drinking games.

Derby is no longer just for us Bluegrass residents! Robots can have Derby too! Right?! Yes they can! Some KIVA folks flew in last week from Boston to show us that! They came to the Zappos.com Kentucky warehouse and recorded some robot action! With that they put together some awesome stop action work to create the scenes for the KIVA Kentucky Derby!

They did a great job! Watch it!

Derby is a fun time of year for Kentucky. We have a lot of festivals that start a few weeks before the big day in May. My favorite festival event that has started in the last year is the Happytail Hour! Metro Animal Services (MAS) hosts HappyTail Hour, which is the only “pet inclusive” cocktail event. This event allows people to bring their pets along to have a bite to eat, some good drinks and to socialize. It provides a fun opportunity for the pet loving community to come together to listen to the music, mingle, play games with their dogs and hang out at Waterfront Park. They also have S.P.O.T. (Stop Pet Overpopulation Today), which is MAS’s 34-foot mobile adoption unit on hand with adoptable animals! It was great seeing MAS reaching out to the community in this way to help awesome dogs find great, loving homes. I hope many people have a new addition to their family today.

A group of us went out there Monday night, and the weather was really chilly and rainy. Despite the weather, there were a few pet owners who came out anyway to support Metro Animal Services. I’m sure if the weather would have been better, there would have been much more of a turnout. I brought my two dogs, Charley and Molly. Charley is still a puppy at 9 months old, and it was her first time out in public with other dogs! She did very well, and I learned she’s afraid to walk over the bridges at the Waterfront park! We had to carry her each time. They had Frisbee games and treats for all of the doggies. There was also a band jamming out some live music.

We walked around and visited other dogs and the Chow Wagon. If you don’t know what the Chow Wagon is, I think you’re missing out! Everyone should visit this delight if you get a chance at Derby time! Basically it’s a lot of booths that serve all kinds of carnival food… All kinds! Corn dogs, BBQ, cotton candy, funnel cakes, frozen custards, frozen lemonade, and so much more! Yummy!

Anyways, back to the dogs! So we walked back to the car all cold and wet, dried the dogs and left. Soon as we pull out of the parking garage, the sun came out, bright as it could be! That was a bummer, but, at least we had a nice drive home! On the way home we passed a couple of the Gallopalooza horse statues that are all over Louisville. I took a picture of one for you! Happy Derby everyone!

As most of the world knows, the Kentucky Derby is a HUGE deal for KY. Each year, from the kick-off at “ Thunder over Louisville “ to the “ Chow Wagon “ and “ Hot Air Balloon Race “ and all the way to the main event, the actual Derby race, the entire city is in celebration.

Here at Zappos we are no different, having our own mini-version of several events.We spend an entire night dedicated to the festivities. Having some “ Kentucky HotBrown “ for dinner, with our supervisors and managers serving nachos and cotton candy to the team, followed by our own horse racing (actually hopping), a horse decorating contest, AND a Derby Hat contest!

Each department and shift received a stenciled foam-core horse to cut out and deck-out for display by our break-room. Night shift photo department took an hour of our friday night to enjoy some pizza dinner and decorate our horse.

We decided to focus our horse in the direction of two fashionable and flashy brands, Ed Hardy and Betsy Johnson . All complete with an actual Betsey Johnson jockey and finished off with a pair of New Balance running shoes to win the race. We are very proud of our “Zappotariat” A.K.A. “Betsy Hardy”.