Giant Rubber Ducky Coming to Philadelphia Waterfront

What could be more fun than a giant rubber ducky? I mean REALLY giant – 61 feet high and 11 tons! It’s the world’s largest rubber ducky, in fact, and it’s coming to the Tall Ships Philadelphia/Camden Festival held between June 25th and 28th. The duck will be installed on the Delaware River. The duck was last seen at Tall Ships Los Angeles. It made its North American debut in Pittsburgh in 2013. Before that, an earlier version of the duck was seen in Amsterdam, home of artist Florentijn Hofman, who created it.

The duck will dwarf even some of the tall ships at the festival. Photo: Draw Events

The six-story duck appealed to Draw Events, the sponsor of Tall Ships. The company’s president, Craig Samborski, said that they bought the plans from Hofman and constructed the duck even larger than the plans called for. The vinyl duck will sit on a 10-ton steel pontoon set in the river. It has been assembled and tested in Los Angeles, and will be test-inflated in New Jersey to make sure that it is in perfect shape for the festival. When it comes time for the festival, the duck will be set in the river with a 15-ton crane and tugged into place in front of the Nipper Building in Camden. The duck will be deflated every night and re-inflated each morning.

The reason for the precaution? Other versions of the duck have been vandalized and deflated. While Samborski says that it would take an extreme force to puncture the thick vinyl of the duck’s hide, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Just in case, however, there is a technician meant to travel with the duck who can provide emergency patching or maintenance.