The event will be Tuesday night at the Louisville Palace Theatre. It will include a benefit auction and the premiere of a Kentucky Educational Television documentary on the festival's history.

It is the first in a series of activities surrounding next spring's festival.

"There are so many stories to tell and great memories that people want to share that we decided to start a little early," said festival spokeswoman Stacey Yates.

The group also will unveil Kentucky Derby Festival: 50 Years of Fun, a coffee-table book about the festival's history.

The event will mark 50 years to the day that four men signed the festival's articles of incorporation.

The inaugural festival included a modest Pegasus Parade staged on a $640 budget.

The festival now has 22 full-time staff members, who are aided by more than 4,000 volunteers. The festival budget is about $5 million, and its calendar includes more than 70 events. The festival has an annual economic impact of more than $95 million, studies show.

Former Gov. Martha Layne Collins, who was the Derby Festival queen in 1959, and businessman Jack Guthrie, the festival's managing director from 1971 to 1977, have been named honorary co-chairs of the 50th festival.