Empty waterfront for Thunder is bad for business on both sides of the river

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There will be a Thunder Over Louisville in 2021, but the scaled-down version will not include tens of thousands of people packing the waterfront, and that is bad for business on both sides of the river.

James Corbin, co-owner of Harry’s Taphouse & Kitchen in Jeffersonville, said while he understands why there cannot be a large crowd, it doesn't make the loss any easier.

“I would have loved to have people down here, socially-distanced, in mid-April, but I understand why they're not,” he said. “It's a huge impact for anyone that's located down here, really for everybody."

Corbin said his restaurant was not counting on Thunder to stay alive, but it would have been a nice boost after months of trying to survive COVID-19.

“We made it through 2020, so 2021 was going to be the year," he said. "Here we are, so we've already dealt with our first setback here by not having the amount of people down here."

Karen Williams of Louisville Tourism said the Kentucky Derby and the surrounding events are like an annual Super Bowl, bringing in some $500 million every year.

She said it is not clear yet what the affect of a modified festival might be.

“We don't really know the economic impact, and I don't think we'll know it until literally the day it happens,” Williams said.

But she said having a scaled-back festival is better than nothing.

“Many of these events are going to happen in very different ways, but we will still have them rather than them being completely canceled, as they were in 2020," she said.

Festival officials plan to release more details about Thunder and other events in the coming weeks. Williams said, if nothing else, having a Derby Festival at all is a sign of hope.

“It gives us all something to look forward to, albeit a very slim and different economic impact," she said. "But it does give us something to look forward to."

Corbin agrees, and he said he remains optimistic.

“There is kind of a finish line out there," he said. "It's just how long is it going to take us to get there, and what's it going to look like, and who's going to be left.”