TORONTO, April 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Toronto Waterfront Festival, formerly Redpath Waterfront Festival, announced today the huge news that the World’s Largest Rubber Duck will finally return to the annual festival from September 16-17, 2023.
In 2017, the World’s Largest Rubber Duck made a splash in Toronto when it floated in to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. Drawn to the Duck, more than 750,000 people attended the three-day celebration and the Waterfront Festival generated an estimated $7.6 million in economic impact for the city of Toronto.
The festival, which is in partnership with the Waterfront BIA, announced the Duck’s return in 2020 but unfortunately had to cancel her visit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was only a matter of time until Mama Duck, who is six stories tall and weighs 30,000 pounds, would return.
“The number one program we continually get asked to bring back is by far the World’s Largest Rubber Duck. After 6 years, we are very excited to have Mama Duck back to Toronto’s Waterfront to celebrate the last weekend of summer,” said Nancy Gavin, Chair of the Toronto Waterfront Festival.
The festival also announced today the change to their name. Redpath Sugar has been an incredible title sponsor of the Toronto Waterfront Festival for the past 11 years and although they are not returning as the title sponsor of the event, they will be continuing their involvement going forward as a major programming partner of the festival.
“The Toronto Waterfront Festival has been, and continues to be, a wonderful avenue for us to support tourism, talent, and business, as well as engage with our community and bring people together. We are excited to continue our participation in the festival, which reflects our commitment to being a good neighbour and our passion for seeing Toronto’s waterfront grow and thrive,” stated Judy Yu, Manager of Brand Development for Redpath Sugar.
Key highlights from the 2017 Redpath Waterfront Festival as a result of Mama Duck’s first visit:
- Over 750,000 attendees over the three-day event
- Total economic impact of 2017 Redpath Waterfront Festival estimated at $7.6M.
- Non-local attendees and event operations resulted in approximately $10.6M of new spending and local residents spent a total of $16.5M.
- Festival attracted visitors from many regions. 31% of attendees resided more than 40 km from the event site and the festival had record visitors from the United States.
- 75% of visitors said the Duck was their main reason for attending.
Additional programming for the festival will be announced in the coming months but Mama Duck will be the star of the show. 2023 festival partners include: Redpath Sugar, The Waterfront BIA, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Waterfront Toronto and Queens Quay Terminal. For more information on the festival visit www.towaterfrontfest.com and @towaterfrontfest on social media.
ABOUT TORONTO WATERFRONT FESTIVAL:
The Toronto Waterfront Festival, in partnership with the Waterfront BIA, is an annual summer event providing on-land and on-water programming for people of all ages and interests, with the goal of promoting Toronto locally and internationally as a premiere waterfront destination. With music, food, nautical programs and entertainment, the festival offers something for everyone to enjoy. Every three years, the event welcomes majestic TALL SHIPS® to Toronto.
ABOUT WATER’S EDGE FESTIVALS & EVENTS:
Water’s Edge Festivals & Events is an Ontario not-for-profit corporation created in 2011 with a mandate to increase tourism to Toronto’s waterfront. WEFE produces the annual Toronto Waterfront Festival and Sugar Shack TO. Past projects have included the pan-provincial TALL SHIPS 1812 Tour (2013) and the ONTARIO 150 Tour (2017) which featured the World’s Largest Rubber Duck.
For additional information and interview requests, please contact:
Victoria Mahoney
Harmony Marketing
vmahoney@harmonymarketing.ca
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7d6d889a-01e2-4025-a48f-5adc8b3ab29c
