The 2021 Kentucky Derby Festival Queen is Giavanna Combs.
The five women who made up the 2020 Royal court rolled over to represent the festival in 2021. On Friday, the tradition of spinning a wheel to select the royal court s queen took place during a virtual event sponsored by the Fillies, a volunteer group that works closely with KDF and sponsors the Fillies Derby Ball, the official Derby Festival program, the Children s Tea with the Princesses and they also manage the Derby Princess program.
Each woman on the 2021 Royal Court will receive a $2,000 scholarship ($1,000 from the Fillies and $1,000 from the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation).
Giavanna Combs and Leah Hazelwood.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Derby Festival Royal Court is the same for 2021 as it was in 2020, meaning UofL students Giavanna Combs and Leah Hazelwood will once again represent the city of Louisville as official ambassadors for the festival.
Combs, a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in Pan-African Studies, is a Porter Scholar and a Denny Crum Scholar who is also active in several campus and community organizations. She is the vice president of the Caring Of New students Experiencing College Transition (Conect) Peer Mentoring Program, participated in the medical companion program with the Louisville VA Medical Center and worked with the Global Game Changers Student Empowerment Program.