The Great Ilkley Business Duck Race
Sat, Apr 18th 2026 at 2:15 pm - 4:15 pm
"No finer sight we ever saw than all those ducks jostling their way down the Wharfe at Ilkley..."
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The Great Ilkley Business Duck Race
Saturday April 18th 2026
Raising funds for our many charitable causes.
If you are a Business Owner in the area – can you help us ? We want to fund improvements to our local environment and facilities, and fund social support in Ilkley and the surrounding area. A list of charities and activities we supported in 2025 is at the foot of this page - and this year we intend to support
LS29 (Special Needs Support Group), Ilkley Food Bank, Nell Bank, Friend of Ilkley Riverside Parks, Improving Ilkley, Ilkley Great Get Together, Clarke Foley Centre, Ilkley Youth Club
........and other causes if we can raise the funds
We are once again running a major Duck Race featuring 6,000 Yellow Ducks on Race Day but to precede the Yellow Ducks we will launch Business Red Ducks - sponsored by businesses and competing for 3 special prizes.
- 1st Prize – A Party Night with fizz and canapes for 25 at the elegant Ticket Office on Station Plaza - on a date of your choosing (sponsored by the Ticket Office)
- 2nd Prize - Ilkley Gift Card worth £150 (sponsored by Ilkley BID)
- 3rd Prize - Ilkley Gift Card worth £100 (sponsored by Ilkley Business Forum)
The Race
Each Red Duck is numbered – and the first 3 red ducks to the finish line win a prize. If you don't know how a Duck Race works - click here
Each Duck costs £50.
Rotarians will be visiting businesses around the town - but if you wish to secure your Duck (we sell out) please email Chris Jones on cbjemails@gmail.com
The Red Duck race will start from the New Brook St Bridge at 2.15pm and will finish approx. 350 metres downstream. The race winners will be announced at approximately 3pm – if you are not on the field you will be contacted asap. The full Terms and Conditions of the race are available HERE.
Our Duck Sponsors so far :
The 2025 Race - Our Local Causes
Our 2025 Race was a great success even though the River was very low and we had to run a Duck Raffle - see our Facebook page for photos etc - and these are the charities we were able to support with the funds raised :-
LS29 Special Needs Support Group, Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks, Ilkley Good Neighbours, Ilkley Youth Community Association, Wharfedale Air Cadets, Great Ilkley Get Together Food Parcels, Ilkley Community Transport, Clarke Foley, Nell Bank ... and others
...........and we want to do so much more in 2026 !!!
Contact Chris Jones about this page:
