The Kentucky Derby Festival kicks off this weekend with North America's largest annual firework show.

Thunder over Louisville has been lighting up the skies two weeks before the Kentucky Derby for the past 35 years.

The same man has been producing the show for all that time.

He tells our Kelsey Starks what to expect in this year's big show.

Tell us about this year.

What can we expect?

It is truly a totally different show, as everybody knows.

And Bill, like fireworks, is the people that do our fireworks every year.

And they've got two new designers and I've been meeting them for most of the year.

And they are incredible.

I mean, they're credentials and background from shows that they've done all over the world is incredible.

And when I was first viewing some of the videos that they were sharing with me, it was like, I've never seen anything like this.

So I'm telling you, it's a totally new show that you're going to see effects and color patterns that we've never seen before.

So and the music track itself is the fastest pace track that we've ever had.

Oh, wow.

So the one thing I insist with these guys, thunder is known about the fire power.

So when we get to that finale, we've got to let the world know this is what thunder is.

Yeah, and we're going to get it.

And do you feel it when you're there?

No question about it.

It is incredible.

Tell me what this has meant to you and giving back to the community and making something like this happen.

Well.

It means the world, really, because I was born and raised in Louisville and I come from a long line of farmers and this is a long way from the farm.

So but it's a big source of pride to be able to do this for my own community.

And over the years, I'd love to have saw the people leave the show with a sense of pride for the community, a sense of pride for our military.

And hopefully they're thrilled to death that they came to see the show.

So that's always the ultimate thought that you've got.

We've got to get it to that point.

So, yeah, it's been a blast.

But yeah, when we started it, I thought I knew it was going to be a good sized show.

The driving force was when I grew up and in the production world and people were going, Can we do something like they do in Atlanta or can we do something like they do in Saint Louis?

And I thought, I want to build a show that tops anything.

We don't have to be like everybody else.

They're going to want to be like what we do in Louisville.