PenDucky 500 Derby

Tickets and Prizes

Food Insecurity on Pender

Hosts and Sponsors

A vibrant cluster of glossy yellow rubber ducks in water, with one prominent duck in the center featuring a Canadian flag design — red and white with a red maple leaf. The other ducks are plain yellow. Bright, cheerful, playful style matching a fun community event.

We are Bringing Back the PenDucky Derby

The PenDucky Derby is a Pender Island tradition and it’s time for those ducks to make another splash. Hosted and sponsored by DogMermaid Kayak Eco Excursions with ducks courtesy of the Pender Island Lions Club, this year the PenDucky Derby is raising funds for the Pender Island Food Bank. Join us for this splashy rubber duck race on Pender Island, raising vital funds for the Pender Island Food Bank while you cheer, laugh, and watch hundreds of bright yellow ducks dash toward the finish.

The Race

A single, slightly larger ‘champion’ rubber duck in sharp focus at the front of a loose group of ducks, all floating in a calm, sunlit cove typical of the Gulf Islands. The champion duck has playful painted wave and star details, symbolizing the winning duck in the PenDucky Derby fundraiser. Behind it, blurred in the distance, a small eco tour boat and colorful paddleboards rest near a rocky shoreline with arbutus trees. Warm afternoon sunlight creates bright highlights and soft shadows on the water and ducks. Photographic realism, shot from a slightly elevated angle using rule-of-thirds composition, conveys a cheerful, celebratory mood anchored in a coastal community setting.

PenDucky Derby

Join our rubber duck race fundraiser supporting the Pender Island Food Bank on August 22 at 1pm. Park at the school and walk down to the bridge or Mortimer Spit and cheer on your duck. As the bridge will be closed briefly for duck launching at 1pm, we encourage you to come down 30 minutes ahead of time.