February 3, 2017. Louisville, KY. They say what’s old is new again, and that’s the case with this year’s Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Pin. This year’s design is a throwback to the original Pegasus Pin designed in 1973. The plastic pin features a cutout design with a warm red colored Pegasus in the center, surrounded by gray, white and teal colors. Beginning in March, the pins will be available to the public and will sell for $6 each at 1,000 retail locations. The price at the entrance to events will be $7.
“Funds raised from the Pegasus Pin sales help us to continue producing events for the public and to maintain the high quality of those events,” said Mike Berry, KDF President & CEO. “When you consider the average price of a concert or movie ticket, it’s an incredible deal.”
The Pegasus Pin program was started as an awareness campaign for the Derby Festival in 1973. At that time, only 10,000 of the plastic pins were produced. The 1973 version of the pin is valued at $800-$1,000 and it’s rare to find them. Since then, the pins have become one of the primary sources of funding for Derby Festival events. More than 250,000 of the pins are produced each year and the pin program has become a way for the community to have ownership in the Festival and show pride in the region’s largest celebration.
Pins are sold in grocery stores, gas stations, banks and other retail outlets around Kentuckiana from Elizabethtown to Louisville and in Southern Indiana, and are also available for purchase through PegasusPins.com. Family Fun Packs, which include a package of 5 Pegasus Pins, also return this year for $25. Children 6 and under are not required to have a Pegasus Pin for admission to Festival events.
Again this year, the Festival will give away Weekly Grand Prizes and any 2017 Pegasus Pin will be your opportunity to win. The prizes will be given away on Fridays beginning Friday, March 17, through Friday, May 5. The drawings will be broadcast on WAVE 3 TV.
Some of this year’s Weekly Grand Prizes include a $2,500 AAA East Central Vacation Package; $2,500 Kroger Fuel Card, $2,500 Commonwealth Credit Union Visa Gift Card, $2,500 Louisville City FC Package, $2,500 Meijer Shopping Spree and more. Those who find and register a Gold Winner Pegasus Pin also have a chance to win the Gold Pin Grand Prize – a 2017 Honda CR-V. With more than 12,000 of these pins in circulation, the odds of finding a gold winner Pegasus Pin are approximately 1 in 20.
More information on the 2017 Pegasus Pin program and prizes can be found at PegasusPins.com.
About Kentucky Derby Festival: Since 1956, the Derby Festival has worked to bring the community together in celebration. The Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.
