On your marks for Rotary duck race
PARK-GOERS will be treated to a sea — or rather, river — of yellow today, Saturday, as thousands of rubber ducks race down the Avon for charity, writes Louis Ashworth.
It is the second year of the Stratford Rotary Evening Group’s Shakespeare Charity Duck Race, with money raised going to the Shakespeare Hospice Children and Young People's Service.
There will be two races, the larger of which will be a 2,000-rubber-duck launch, which the public can enter at a price of £2 per duck.
The owners of the first three to cross the finish line will win £150, £100 and £50 respectively, with fourth place receiving a family ticket to the butterfly farm.
That will be preceded by a corporate duck race for local companies, which around 30 businesses are expected to enter with customised rubber ducks.
The races will begin at Lucy’s Mill Weir, opposite Holy Trinity Church, with the first launch expected at around 2pm.
Members of the Mezzo Dance Company will also be staging a performance, in duck costumes.
John Rees, one of the organisers, said around 1,400 rubber ducks had already been sold, with more expected to go on the day if the weather is good.