Rubber Duck Race
Buy Rubber Ducks
Guide and FAQ on how to set up a Rubber Duck Race
As a Charity or Fund Racing even, a Rubber Duck Race is a great way to raise both funds and awareness for your cause. Not only do people enjoy sponsoring a Rubber Duck, the general public also like to 'engage' with the event when they see the spectacle of a Rubber Duck Race in progress. All this goes to helping achieve further awareness.
With support from followers and volunteers, running a Rubber Duck Race can be a fairly cost-effective way to generate income.
Locate a Stretch of Water - firstly, a flowing river, stream or canal needs to be identified in advance. This piece of water should be long enough to hold an event, but not too long as for it to take the ducks too long to traverse the course. The stretch of water should be free-flowing, with no obstacles or areas where ducks can get trapped, and there should be decent access for boats to enter the water to retrieve ducks.
Unfortunately you cannot just run a Rubber Duck Race on any stretch of water you fancy, you will firstly need to obtain the permission from either the relevant agency or water owner. Contact your local authority to discover how to gain consent.
A Rubber Duck Race is actually considered a lottery, so not to fall foul of the law therefore you will need to apply for the relevant licence. A small lottery can be run which are operated by your Local Authority. Advice should be sort from them on how to apply for a licence and to gain more info. For further details on running a lottery visit the:
You should consider Public Liability insurance and should also speak to your local authority with regards to staging your event, you may need the help of the local police force, or a group of individuals to act as marshals etc- after all you do not want a member of the public falling in the river!
Once the Rubber Duck Race has been completed you'll need to collect up all the loose ducks. It's important not to leave them in the River to keep floating downstream. Therefore you'll need to create a method of stopping the ducks from flowing past your finishing line.
Preparation is key for a successful Rubber Duck Race- if you plan ahead, get plenty of advice, comply with all the regulation and drum up support from volunteers and people to sponsor a duck then you'll event will no doubt be very successful. If it does go well, why not make it an annual event! People love having something fun to attend in their local community and kids love watching the rubber ducks bobbing away!