You can do more at Thunder this year than just look up. As you’re enjoying the air show and even well before it begins, there are many hands-on activities that offer a complete day’s worth of entertainment. You can bounce, climb, drive, inspect, ride, play and jump your way through more than a dozen special areas from Third Street to Waterfront Park. Some are Pegasus Pin admission or nominal fees and some offerings are completely free. Pick up a Thunder map at the event and seek out the fun on the ground while enjoying the buzz of the overhead performers. Most all activities open 11 AM – fireworks.
Get a hands-on experience with the fast-paced excitement of IndyCar® Series racing at the The IndyCar® Series Fan Experience. For just a Pegasus Pin, Thunder Fans can get a taste of another exciting event by sampling different areas of this highly interactive exhibit, including Pole Position and the 2005 Indy 500 Fan Tour.
Featuring Memorabilia from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 including: an actual original brick, helmets, driver’s suits, fire/safety suits, steering wheel, and other actually IndyCar parts, this exhibit brings the thrill of the Indy Series to the fans of all ages. Fans who want to experience the action and excitement of IndyCar® Series racing can get a first-person point of view when they step into the Pole Position simulator. Designed to bring the action from the track straight to the participant, an on-board video game system offers high speeds and banking to the fan, who will feel the rush of adrenaline as they race around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. See the official Chevrolet SSR pace car used for the INDY 500, meet some of the Indy 500 Festival Princesses and get free giveaways including Indy 500 magnets, driving trading cards and speed posters.
Location: Waterfront Park, in the Purple parking lot near the river and just to the left of the I-65 bridge
The Coca-Cola Road Jam, an interactive trailer featuring music, video games and trivia, will be open to Thunder patrons near the Chow Wagon at Waterfront Park. The free event will provide photo opportunities, where spectators take pictures with a digital camera and receive a Web card with an Internet address they can visit to print their pictures. A dance revolution game, with dance pads in front of television screens, is also one of the highlights of this featured entertainment option while planes fly overhead.
Location: just outside the Chow Wagon at Waterfront Park
Chubby Checker, famous for his 1959 hit “The Twist,” is up to more than just music these days. The Last Twist Inc. and Chubby Checker Snacks include Checker’s own line of food products, including snack foods, meats and chocolates. Products include Chubby’s Checkerbar, which comes in white, milk and dark chocolate varieties in a checkerboard pattern, licorice twists, honey-coated popcorn, beef jerky and more. The snacks will be featured at Kentucky Derby Festival events, along with the Checkerlicious Express, Checker’s coach that he uses for transportation and as a marketing and promotional tool for his products.
Location: Chow Wagon
The Dew Action Sports Tour, sponsored by Panasonic, is coming to Louisville June 8-12. The tour is the first of its kind, showcasing season-long professional action sports including skateboarding, BMX and freestyle motocross. Louisville is the first of five host cities on the tour. Visit their exhibit at Thunder to get a taste of what the event will have to offer later this summer.
Location: South Great Lawn
- OTHER THINGS TO DO:
• Arcade & cocktail lounge inside the LEO Lounge at the Chow Wagon. Featuring drink specials, including the “Thundernator.”
• The US Marine Corps Chin-up Challenge will be on the South Great Lawn featuring two drill sergeants running you and your friends through a mock “boot camp”.
• The US Army Experience will also be on hand on the South Great Lawn in the west corner, featuring giveaways and a vehicle display.
• Along Third St. at River Road, the US Army National Guard will have an interactive display of multiple military transports, M1-Abrams tanks and Humvees and a mini C-130.
• In addition, the Kentucky Air National Guard have a Biffle NASCAR display car on the South Great Lawn.
• Adrenaline Force will have kid’s activities for a nominal fee in 3 locations: Festival Plaza, S. Great Lawn and along River Road. Moon bounce, rock-climbing walls, slides, mazes, zing swing, fun house, miniature golf and more will entertain the kids between air acts.
