Get ready for a quacktacular weekend as popular duck race returns to Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS — It will be a quacktacular weekend as a popular event races back into Idaho Falls for its 32nd year.
The Great Snake River Greenbelt Duck Race, sponsored by the Idaho Falls Rotary Club, will take place this Saturday, Aug. 12. Rubber ducks are given numbers, which lets participants adopt a duck for a small amount of money.
Thousands of rubber ducks are then dropped into the Snake River for the race. The first duck to float past the finish line is the winner.
Festivities begin on Friday, Aug. 11. There will be a Classic Car Cruise at 6 p.m. at the Mountain America Center. Participants will cruise through the town and collect poker cards during a poker run. The Cruise and Poker Run will end at Stone’s KIA on Woodruff Avenue, where there will be live music and a free dinner.
The free dinner starts at 6 p.m. and will include hamburgers provided by Sam’s Club and ice cream from Farr Candy Company.
New this year will be an exotic car demonstration.
“Just some great, fun cars that you don’t see very often are going to be on display,” said Elaine Gray with the Idaho Falls Rotary Club.
On duck race day, there will be boat races starting at 10 a.m. on the Snake River. Click here to see the full day of events.
“We are having a car show; we are going to have big semi trucks, (and) motorcycles. We are having a National Guard display,” Gray said.
New at the event on Saturday are live camels and a jump rope team called ProForm Airborne.
“They were in Colorado in June at championships. It’s a jump rope display. This is the Rexburg group, and they have been very successful,” Gray explained.
There will be food vendors, lots of crafts vendors, and it should be a fun weekend for the entire family, Gray added.
The ducks drop to race at 4 p.m. just north of the falls overlook near the Best Western Driftwood Inn. The first ducks to drop over the falls will be the winners of the 2023 duck race.
The grand prize winner will receive a 2023 KIA Seltos donated by Stones KIA. The first prize winner will get a 2023 Suzuki King Quad 4 Wheeler from Idaho Central Credit Union.
RELATED | Quack, quack! Prizes have been announced for the 32nd annual duck race
Gray said there are still ducks for sale. Ducks are available for adoption at $5 a duck or $25 for a “six-quack.” Click here for more information. There is a goal to adopt 23,000 ducks, and so far, there have only been 10,578 ducks adopted as of Tuesday afternoon.
“We have a lot of ducks to sell. We are pushing sales really hard,” she said. “It all goes back to the Greenbelt, and the Greenbelt is such a beautiful part of Idaho Falls. When you go to the Greenbelt, you see your duck adoption dollars at work. Heritage Park is our current project, and that’s really coming along.”
According to a news release, over the past 32 years, the Rotary Club has raised more than $6 million through duck adoptions, with matched funds from the city of Idaho Falls. After event expenses, the remaining funds go into improving the Riverwalk Greenbelt.