Photo By Dale Greer | Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, right, speaks at a press conference in Louisville, Ky.,...... read more read more
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Historic flooding canceled Thunder Over Louisville last year, but officials promise an exciting air show and fireworks display for the return this spring, thanks to help from the Kentucky Air National Guard.
“Thunder Over Louisville has become one of Kentucky’s most anticipated spring traditions,” said Matt Gibson, president and CEO of the show’s organizer, the Kentucky Derby Festival. “When Thunder returns April 18, it will do more than kick off the Derby Festival season. It will bring our community together in a way only Thunder can. After a year without it, this year’s Thunder feels even more special. Our team has been working hard to make sure this Thunder is one to remember.”
The Kentucky Air Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing will once again serve as the main base of operations for military aircraft participating in the show, to be staged over the banks of the Ohio River. Expected highlights include the U.S. Air Force F-35 Viper demonstration team, F-15 Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet, C-17 Globemaster III and a variety of historic warbirds like the P-51 Mustang, said Lt. Col. Josh Ketterer, commander of the wing’s operations group.
“For air show enthusiasts, this event will fulfill your cravings for jet noise, chest rattling, precision aerobatics and the wonders of aeronautical engineering,” Ketterer said during a press conference here yesterday to announce Thunder’s return. “For the casual observer not yet bitten by the aviation bug, it should serve to excite, inspire and entertain for the six and a half hours leading up to an unrivaled pyrotechnic display.”
The Kentucky Air Guard will be among the show’s participants, with aerial demonstrations by the unit’s C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. That plane will serve as a jump platform for pararescuemen and combat controllers from Kentucky’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, who will parachute into the Ohio River to showcase one of several methods they employ to access challenging environments, Ketterer said. The squadron’s special warfare Airmen also will demonstrate low-level water insertions from UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters flown by the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 63rd Theater Aviation Brigade.
“These special tactics Airmen are some of the most elite special warfare warriors in the world,” Ketterer noted.
Gibson expressed his appreciation to the Kentucky Air Guard and the U.S. armed forces for their support of Thunder, calling it essential to the event’s success.
“Thunder has always carried a strong patriotic spirit,” he said. “You see it in the air show, you hear it in the soundtrack and you’ll feel it in the crowd in 2026. As our country marks 250 years, we’ll celebrate America in only a way that Thunder can, and that celebration starts in the skies above us. The support of the military plays a huge role in making Thunder what it is, year after year.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the return of Thunder felt like “reuniting with an old friend.”
“If you go back to last April, Kentucky was hit by historic flooding,” he said. “We lost seven Kentuckians to that storm system. Cancelling Thunder was not just the right call, but the only call, because public safety always comes first. But this tradition won’t stop because we missed one year. In just a few weeks, jets will be flying over the waterfront, then the fireworks will light up the sky.
“This city, once again, will officially begin the countdown to the Kentucky Derby, an event that showcases the very best of who we are. I’m happy it’s coming back. Let’s have a great Derby season. Let’s kick it off the right way with the best Thunder Over Louisville we’ve ever put on.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg echoed the governor’s sentiments, saying he was “thrilled that Thunder Over Louisville is coming back to the skies over the Ohio River.”
“There is no greater time in our city, there is no greater time in our country than here in Louisville for Thunder and all the events associated with the Kentucky Derby Festival,” he said.
Now in its 36th year, Thunder Over Louisville has grown to become one of the largest single-day air shows and fireworks displays in North America. It regularly draws hundreds of thousands of spectators to downtown Louisville and Southern Indiana to kick off the city’s annual two-week Kentucky Derby Festival, setting the stage for the “Run for the Roses” at Churchill Downs.
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2026 12:03 |
| Story ID: | 558738 |
| Location: | LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 44 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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