Philly Tall Ships festival to feature giant 'rubber' duck

A "rubber" duck billed as the world's largest will float into the Delaware River next month for the first Philadelphia Camden Tall Ships festival since 2000.

The 11-ton, six-story vinyl duck, based on plans by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, made its debut at Los Angeles' Tall Ships festival last year.

"It turned out to be a huge hit," said festival producer Craig Samborski, of Draw Events.

The duck has already been shipped to the Philadelphia area in advance of the festival, slated for June 25 to 28. It will be inflated and lifted by crane onto a steel pontoon, which will be towed through the water by a tugboat.

Also pulling into port will be a 12-ship fleet headlined by L'Hermione, a replica of the French naval frigate that carried the Marquis de Lafayette to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.

Activities along Penn's Landing and the Camden waterfront will include ship tours, historical reenactments, and youth sail training, along with a variety of food and beverage vendors.

"We try to express to the audience all the cool, fun things to do on a tall ship," Samborski said. "It is fun, it is exciting, but it's also a way of life for lot of people."

Samborski is expecting attendance at the Philadelphia/Camden event to surpass that of the Los Angeles festival, which he pegged at 277,000.

"We would've done a lot more, but we were closed early on Saturday and Sunday by the LAPD because we had so many people coming to the event site," he said.

Tickets – available here – range from $7 festival admission to $85 sailing passes.

The event is being sponsored by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, Cooper's Ferry Partnership, Adventure Aquarium, and Independence Seaport Museum.