Day:217, Words:217

The annual Øksfjord festival is only a week away. The posters have been printed and pinned to village noticeboards. One of the highlights in previous years has been the duck race. 350 plastic yellow ducks will be tossed into the river in Vassdalen on Friday 17th. The first 3 ducks to make the journey to the river mouth receive substantial cash prizes.

Today the ducks went on sale. Each duck is numbered between 1 and 350 and can be purchased for 100 kroner. First place is 1000 kroner, second place recieves 7000 kroner and third place recieves 500 kroner. (The Norwegian words for second and duck are close, which explains the larger second prize). Around 60 ducks were purchased today and there is sure to be a rush in the days leading up to the big event.

The locals are hoping measures are put in place to prevent a repeat of last year's borefest. Due to a warm and dry summer, there was little water in the river causing most of the ducks to be beached. After well over an hour, a few ducks struggled to the finish line, to the relief of the few spectators that were left.

As it has not stopped raining since May, I doubt the same problem will arise again this year.

 

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