Rum River Festival splashing into June

World’s largest rubber duck quacking on over to Princeton

Duck, duck, big duck!

Princeton’s annual Rum River Festival is expected to go swimmingly this year with the addition of a special visit from the world’s largest rubber duck, affectionately known as Mama Duck.

Mama Duck stands at an impressive six stories tall and will reside in the Bremer Bank parking lot, 202 S. Rum River Drive, making her unmissable for anyone driving through Princeton.

This year, the Rum River Festival will run the first full week of June, from June 2-9, with Mama Duck as the main attraction.

“The duck is the big attraction this year. I’ve had people calling from (all over) asking about it,” said Kim Young, executive director of the Princeton Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (PACCT). “Everybody wants to be a part of it. Nearly every day we’re contacted by somebody that wants to be a part of it. It’s really unbelievable the following that this duck has. It has really helped to grow the festival.”

Mama Duck is free for all attendees hoping to get a look. Young warns of scams circulating Facebook of people trying to sell tickets to others interested in seeing the duck, but Young says these posts are scams and visitors do not need tickets to see Mama Duck; the event is completely free.

The PACCT first announced Mama Duck’s visit in February via a Facebook post which immediately exploded, gaining high levels of interest and attention.

The owner of Mama Duck lives in Duluth, but despite Minnesota being her home state, she has never visited any other city in Minnesota.

“The only other place in Minnesota that (the owner) told me it’s been up is in Duluth,” Young said. “He said he saw our form and that it seems like it would be a really good fit. We have rubber ducks literally in our logo at the chamber, and for the Rum River Festival, we do the Lucky Duck Race. There’s always something to do with rubber ducks at our festival.”

This year’s festival activities are no different. The Lucky Duck Race is planned for June 7 at 6 p.m. in Riverside Park, and the PACCT has organized a Duck-orating contest for local businesses to participate in.

For the Duck-orating contest, businesses had the opportunity to purchase a 6-inch rubber duck that they were to then decorate to represent their business. The ducks will then be placed in the PACCT tent near Mama Duck during the Rum River Festival.

Another duck-related event this year is the Duck Duck Jeep event for local Jeep owners to come visit Mama Duck to take photos of their Jeeps with her.

“Rubber ducks are kind of a Jeep thing. When people see a Jeep in a parking lot, they will put a rubber duck on the Jeep and say that ‘they’ve been ducked.’ So what we’re going to do is give the people who own Jeeps an opportunity to drive right up to the duck and take a photo,” Young said.

The Duck Duck Jeep event will take place on Sunday, June 9, the last day of the festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

But Mama Duck isn’t the only big thing coming to the Rum River Festival this year. The crowds she draws into Princeton are expected to be just as large.

“We’re expecting a lot of people. We’re excited to bring people into Princeton to show them our community, and to have fun during the Rum River Festival,” Young said. “We’re extremely excited about it; we’ve had such a great response. We’re going to have so many visitors, and we’re just so excited to bring them into Princeton.”

During the festival, parking could be a challenge with the additional traffic and the South Mall parking lot occupied by craft fairs and other events, but Young said two parking lots will be available for use just a few blocks away from Mama Duck.

The parking lot located across the street from the Princeton District Center on Seventh Avenue North will be open for free parking, and the parking lot located next to the Princeton Area Pantry on Sixth Avenue South will be open for paid parking at $10 per day.

Neighbors on the Rum Bar and Grill are also kick-starting a taxi service during the Rum River Festival known as The Neighborhood Taxi for attendees to utilize. To contact the taxi service, call 763-389-5800.

The second biggest event of the Rum River Festival will be the annual Rum River Festival Parade on Thursday, June 6.

With 85 units and counting, the parade is planned for its traditional route starting on Rum River Drive before turning down First Street, then turning onto Eighth Avenue and concluding at Princeton High School.

This year, the parade will feature three marching bands: the Milaca High School Marching Wolves, the Milaca Junior High Marching Band, and the St. Francis High School Marching Band.

Food trucks will also be available along the parade route for attendees to enjoy.

But that’s not all. Dozens of other events are planned for the entirety of the Rum River Festival.

“Someone told me it’s like a week of partying for the festival,” Young said. “There’s so much going on! We’re going to have a board up down by the duck so everybody can know what’s going on during the festival while they’re here.”

Mama Duck’s visit has helped the festival grow to new heights, and Young does not expect that to stop anytime soon.

“Many of these things will probably stick around, like the Duck-orating contest and the sand volleyball,” Young said. “I think a lot of things will kind of stick around that were started by this big event. It’ll help it continue to grow even when we don’t have the gigantic duck here.”

The festival will be packed each day with events, performances, and other activities for attendees to enjoy.

Below is the full schedule of the Rum River Festival the week of June 2-9:

Sunday, June 2

- Princeton Ambassador Coronation at 5 p.m. in the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center.

Thursday, June 6

- The American Legion Post #216 Medallion Hunt begins (all day, until found).

- City Wide Garage Sale hosted by Small Business Casual (all day).

- The World’s Largest Rubber Duck will be set up and open for media only, not open to the public.

- The Rum River Festival Parade begins at 6 p.m.

Friday, June 7

- The American Legion Post #216 Medallion Hunt begins (all day, until found).

- City Wide Garage Sale hosted by Small Business Casual (all day).

- The World’s Largest Rubber Duck will be open for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

- A craft and vendor fair by Powerful Zen Massage & Blue Ribbon Events MN will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the South Mall parking lot.

- The Minnesota Twins Baseball Camp, sponsored by Princeton Community Education, will be held from 3-5 p.m.

- The Unicycling Unicorn will perform in the South Mall parking lot at 5 p.m.

- Sand volleyball tournaments will be held at Finish Line. The youth tournament will be from 5-7 p.m., and the adult tournament will be from 7-9 p.m.

- The Lucky Duck Drop will be held at 6 p.m. in Riverside Park.

- A free evening at the Princeton Splash Park sponsored by Princeton Community Education will be from 6-8 p.m.

- The Princeton Speedway races will begin at 7 p.m.

- Neighbors on the Rum Bar and Grill will have a mechanical bull, ax throwing, an outdoor DJ, and live band indoors all starting at 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 8

- The American Legion Post #216 Medallion Hunt begins (all day, until found).

- City Wide Garage Sale hosted by Small Business Casual (all day).

- The Rum River Festival 5K will begin at 8 a.m.

- The Princeton Farmers Market will open at 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

- Ladies Local shopping event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

- The World’s Largest Rubber Duck will be open for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

- A craft and vendor fair by Powerful Zen Massage & Blue Ribbon Events MN will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the South Mall parking lot.

- Brickton Genetics Food Trucks on the Farm will go from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

- A free Splash Park day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be sponsored by the Grand Casino.

- Dance Caravan will perform at 1 p.m. in the South Mall parking lot.

- The Unicycling Unicorn will perform in the South Mall parking lot at 3 p.m.

- Neighbors on the Rum Bar and Grill will have a mechanical bull, ax throwing, an outdoor DJ, and live band indoors all starting at 7 p.m.

Sunday, June 9

- The Princeton Lions Club annual Airport Brunch will be held at the Princeton Airport from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Adults are $15, and kids 12 and under are $8.

- A Tractor Pull and Craft and Vendor Show will be held at the Mille Lacs County Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

- A Duck, Duck, Jeep event will be held at the site of the World’s Largest Duck from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The duck will be on display for all from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

- A free “freezie” popsicle will be provided with the purchase of admission into the Princeton Splash Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For additional details of the Rum River Festival schedule and other event details, visit https://www.princetonmnchamber.org/rum-river-festival.

To read the original article about Mama Duck’s visit to Princeton, visit the Union-Times website at https://tinyurl.com/j47kr9ds.

Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com