What local race features a whopping 1,000 participants and lots of laughs? It’s none other than Cranford’s Annual Ducky Derby, where oodles of rubber duckies race down the Rahway River in a fun-filled event that benefits the Hanson Park Conservancy.

This year’s Derby is slated for Sunday, October 18, at 4 pm. Beginning Sunday Aug. 23rd, you can purchase tickets to “sponsor” the little racers–aka duckies–at Periwinkle’s on North Union Ave. in Downtown Cranford or at the Cranford Canoe Club at the corner of Springfield and Orange Aves. For $5 you get one ducky; $20 gets you a flock of five ducks. ALL proceeds benefit the beautiful Hanson Park’s maintenance and educational programs.

Every single duck will be numbered–the sponsors of the fastest ducks win prizes, including a $250 gift card for the first-place finisher! The ducks will be released into the river at Sperry Park, then will take a tumble down the falls before ending at the North Union Ave. bridge in what is always a photo finish.

Now doesn’t this event sounds just…ducky?