Westport Sunrise Rotary's 2024 'Great Duck Race' This Weekend

Information from Westport Sunrise Rotary:

WESTPORT, CT — Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 29th, and the return of Westport Sunrise Rotary’s Great Duck Race, a day of family fun on Jesup Green in Westport, CT outside of the Westport Library. Admission is FREE!

The fun begins at 10am with the Family Fun Fair in the Jesup Green/Westport Library parking lot, including activities like the Nerdy Derby, pin making, face painting, bubble machines, a duck pond giveaway and more, in tents run by great local sponsors like Hartford Healthcare, Stewie the Duck Swim School, Kohler Plimpton & Hills, and many more. Several food trucks will be available to add flavor to the event. As part of Westport’s unique tradition, the UN’s jUNe Day will coincide with the June 29th event and members of the United Nations will take part in some of the festivities as they promote international friendship.

The signature duck race event then starts at 1pm when up to 4,000 small plastic ducks are dropped from a giant front loader to start their race down a 160 foot long sluice course on Jesup Green.

The Fire Department generously donates their time to the Westport Sunrise Rotary Club and together they construct the race course on Jesup Green by the Library before the race. AJ Penna generously donates their time and provides use of a truck to drop the ducks into the water at the start of the race. Each duck has a number matching a $20 raffle ticket. The first ten ducks across the finish line win money for their ticket holders -- first place wins $5,000, second place $1,000, and the next eight $500 awards.

The day has a simple purpose -- Westport Sunrise Rotary raises money to give away to local and international charities supported by Rotary.

For a chance of winnings totaling $10,000 and to support the Rotary’s charitable causes, tickets can be purchased online at westportsunriserotary.org, or from any Westport Sunrise Rotarian at any time including the morning of the event.

The Westport Sunrise Rotary Great Duck Race remains the Club’s largest fundraiser, and is the single most important source of pride of the Club, in particular the role it plays in bringing the Westport community together.

About Westport Sunrise Rotary
Westport Sunrise Rotary is a service club whose motto is Service Above Self. In addition to supporting our non-profits, Sunrise also lends hands-on service -- including cleaning up near I95 Exit 17 on Westport’s Clean Up day, soliciting food donations at Stop & Shop the day before the Super Bowl to donate to Homes with Hope, and serving meals at the Gillespie Center. Over $100K was raised by the Club last year through fundraising.

For more information, please reach out to info@westportsunriserotary.org.

See a short video clip of the 2023 Great Duck Race here: https://youtu.be/XDKfO7yScgc?si=KopMWuH7RAzxpP-u