Decorate a Duck Day

Kirkcudbright Rotary Annual Duck Race Sunday 27th August 2017 Kirkcudbright Harbour


Kirkcudbright Rotary Annual Duck Race

 Sunday 27th August 2017 Kirkcudbright Harbour 

Kirkcudbright Rotary Club Annual Duck Race


We hold our charity Duck Race once a year on the last weekend of August. This is one of our major fund-raising activities which raises a significant amount of money that we use to help fund the various local and international charitable activities that we support throughout the year.

The Duck Race takes place in the River Dee, adjacent to the harbour, over a distance of approximately 150m. In fact, there are two separate races.

The first race involves small plastic ducks, for each one of which members of the public buy a ticket with a unique number. The cost of a ticket for the 2017 race is £2:50 per duck. There are approximately 1500 ducks in this race. Monetary prizes are awarded for the first 4 ducks to cross the winning line. Prizes are as follows : 1st £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25, 4th £15.

The second race involves slightly larger ducks which businesses, and some individuals, purchase. The cost of entering a Corporate Duck is £30 for the first year with subsequent years costing only £10 per duck. The ducks are supplied by the Rotary Club and only these ducks will qualify for the race. We encourage entrants to decorate their ducks and a “beauty parade” is held immediately before the race with prizes given to the owners of the ducks adjudged to be the best decorated. Judging is carried out by a member of the public selected on the day by the race organiser. Prizes for the Beauty Parade are awarded as follows: 1st £25, 2nd £15, 3rd £10.


The prizes for the Corporate Duck Race are awarded as follows: 1st £100, 2nd £60, 3rd £40. In addition to these monetary prizes, a Cup is awarded to the winner of the race which they are allowed to keep for a year. The winner’s name will be engraved on the Cup. The Club will pay the cost of postage for delivering the Cup but the winner will be responsible for the cost of returning the Cup. In the interest of fairness, should you be lucky enough to win on two successive years, then you will not be eligible to receive any prize money in the third year.


The event is intended to be a light hearted bit of fun and for this reason the rules are fairly relaxed. However, it is important to note that whilst we encourage ducks to be decorated externally there should be no modification to the structure of the duck. For example, no form of ballast or motorised power can be added!

Sunday 27th August 2017

Kirkcudbright Harbour Square

Race time 1400 – but you will need to be there much earlier !!




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