Each year, the Brockport Arts Festival concludes the festival weekend with a celebratory family event called the Duck Derby. This year’s Duck Derby will be held on Sunday, August 11 and begins at 3:30 p.m. when ducks will be launched into the Erie Canal off of the Brockport Canal Lift Bridge. The first five ducks and last five ducks that cross the finish line will win.
Interested in taking a chance on a duck? Duck tickets can be purchased at many Brockport merchants including A Different Path Gallery, Arjuna Florist, the Lift Bridge Book Store, Red Bird Café, Brockport Discount Beverage Center, Reliant FCU, UPS Store; from members of BISCO, the Sweden Senior Singers, or at the Duck Derby tent until 3 p.m. on race day. Tickets cost $5 for one lonely duck, $20 for a quack pack and a flock of 35 for $100.
Prizes will be awarded for the first five and last five ducks crossing the finish line. The list of valuable prizes includes $250 VISA and Wegmans gift cards, $250 gas cards, a $750 Wegmans shopping spree, a gym membership to 24/7 Fitness valued at $400 and a $400 gas grill from Lowe’s. Sunnking has donated a refurbished laptop to the fifth and fifth from last ducks.
Walk, Bike Brockport Action Group Project: “Helping to Ensure Safe Routes to School,” and The Sweden Senior Singers will both benefit from the proceeds of this year’s Duck Derby. Raymond Duncan is the chairperson of the Walk, Bike Brockport Action Group.
“The Walk, Bike Brockport Action group was developed about 10 years ago after a visit from Mark Fenton, a national public health, planning, and transportation consultant, and an advocate for physical activity. The committee formed out of an interest in promoting walking and biking in hopes of stimulating people to be physically fit,” Duncan said. “Over the years, this group has sponsored numerous biking and walking events, and even purchased and installed sculptures around the Village of Brockport. The goal of this new effort, Helping to Ensure Safe Routes to School, is aimed at building infrastructures to create and maintain safe walking and biking pathways to Brockport Schools. The proceeds from the Duck Derby will support the installation of traffic speed signs, repair sidewalks, install stop signs and also support efforts to encourage children to walk to school safely,” Duncan added.
For other information about the Duck Derby, visit the Brockport Arts Festival website at brockportartsfestival.com and follow the links to the Duck Derby.
