A Royal Ball for a Royal Court
The Fillies Derby Ball

There are Derby parties and balls, and then there is The Derby Ball. A registered trademark of The Fillies, Inc., the Derby Ball has been the royal kick-off of the Kentucky Derby Festival since before the modern Festival was formed in 1956.

Royal Court enjoys the heartwarming Don Fightmaster Golf Tournament
Queen's Royal Crown created by Todd Merkeley

By 1920, well-dressed revelers were attending a “Derby” Ball – an early version of the Fillies’ Derby Ball – at the Seelbach Hotel. According to a Louisville Magazine article, there also was a “fancy dress” dance at Camp Zachary Taylor and many of the well-heeled visitors bivoucacking on private train cars at Louisville’s Union Station threw private parties as well.

Led by Mayor Neville Miller, the Kentucky Derby Festival Association set up its first week-long festival in 1935, including a parade, riverfront regatta and an orchestral concert. In 1937, a Derby Festival king and queen – Orris Reynolds and Ellen Bentley – were crowned, marking the start of a royal tradition. This “Derby Festival” version folded after the floods of 1937 and an effort to hold a week-long celebration did not resurface again until 1956 when four civic-minded citizens formed the modern-day “Kentucky Derby Festival”.

The Derby Ball (as we now know it), at which the Derby Festival Queen is crowned, was first held in 1957 and was then known as the Coronation Ball. It was during Derby Festival Chairman Frank Rankin’s term – 1959 – that Mrs. William Golden Davis created the Fillies organization and staged the first Fillies’ Ball. She was aided by Rankin, Gen. Dillman Rash, Mrs. B.L. Lenihan and a quickly-formed committee of seventeen.

Nowadays, five young women are selected by a Fillies screening committee to serve as Derby Festival Princesses, with one chosen as Queen on the night of the Fillies’ Derby Ball. The Queen is chosen by the traditional spin-of-the-wheel, performed by the reigning Fillies President. The gala evening, fit for a Queen, is a grand affair representing the tradition of southern hospitality. Ball-goers enjoy cocktails and a gourmet dinner of several courses before the entertainment begins after the entree.

At each Ball, selected individuals are recognized for their contribution to the Derby Festival and the community by being inducted as “Knights & Dames” of the Derby Festival Court of Pegasus. The induction ceremony is the new Queen's first official act. As the newly-crowned Festival Queen and her court lead the celebration on the dance floor, guests are truly treated to a “Royal” evening.

Please join us at this year's royal affair.