LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the Derby festivities kick off this weekend a whole host of events are spotlighting Louisville.
"Derby season is a whirlwind. We do quite a few events. We have people traveling from across the country to visit," Lawrence Pittman, who attended the Fillies Derby Ball, said.
"It is indeed a spectacle, but however, it's the greatest spectacle, because we talking about people all over the world coming here," Geneva Pittman, who also attended the ball, said. "We're talking about the greatest two minute horse race in the whole wide world."
Over at the Norton Health Care Sports & Learning Complex,, it was a chance for small Black-owned businesses to shine.
"The importance of keeping Black businesses open, or really any business open, it's making sure that it sustains at least for a year," Duan Wright, with MELANnaire Marketplace, said. "What that takes is to make sure that we put them in proper places to make sure that they have opportunities to build the right relationships, so that people can pour back into our businesses."
In the first event on the road to the Derby hundreds gathered for a block party focused on growing and sustaining Black business and bringing health care to undeserved communities.
"We got a job fair going on, as well as a lot of our community partners are here in this one place," Wright said.
For some of the dozens of vendors, booths shut down early because customers sold out business.
"(It's) been very important instrumental in opening opportunities and avenues for us to get our names out there," Mark Carter, owner of Carter's Cobbler Cakes, said.
And just down the road, inside the Galt House Hotel, you'll find the ball that starts it all.
"It's an opportunity, it's an opportunity for all of us to, you know, engage in the process," Geneva Pittman said.
"Tonight? Just a good time. Meet a few friends and have some nice dinner. Don't think I'll dance tonight but I'll enjoy the party," Lawrence Pittman said.
Hundreds packed inside the ballroom for the the 66th annual Fillies Derby Ball.
During the biggest night for the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation's charitable arm, the organization crowned KDF's Queen and a royal court.
"I'm in New Orleans native and reminds me of Mardi Gras because you have all these events and activities that lead up to the Kentucky Derby," Geneva Pittman said. "So just a wonderful and amazing time."
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