Laura Vitzoski, 10, and Tanya Gutierro, both of Beacon Falls, at the annual Beacon Falls RiverFest and Duck Race in Beacon Falls on Saturday.

BEACON FALLS — Rain, rain did not make the hundreds upon hundreds of people go away at the 11^th annual Beacon Falls River Fest and Duck Race Saturday at Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 and Volunteer Park. Despite an overcast—and sometimes very wet—late morning and afternoon, more than 1,000 visitors flocked to downtown Beacon Falls to check out the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes brought to them by the Beacon Falls Lions and Lioness Clubs.

A mass of vendors, from local restaurants to local businesses and organizations to the town’s Republican and Democratic town committees, packed the grounds of Beacon Hose, spilling into the Beacon Falls Senior Center, Volunteer Park, and North Main Street.

In addition to the myriad booths around the River Fest, the Woodland Fine Arts Booster Club sponsored a silent art auction inside the senior center, putting more than 30 pieces of art up for bid. Each work was donated by a local artist, teacher, or student.

The River Fest and Duck Race also served as the kickoff to Beacon Hose Co. No. 1’s Fire Prevention Week, which runs through Sunday. The fire department held an open house all day long, opening an ambulance and fire engine and putting their contents on display inside the garage. The company also operated a simulated smoke house and performed two demonstrations for the public—a vehicle extrication and a grease fire.

Other features of the River Fest included the Lioness Club’s cookie walk and quilt raffle, the drawing in the Beacon Falls Merchants Association’s Shop Locally Sweepstakes, the first-ever Parade of Ducks (a line of large, fiberglass ducks decorated by local businesses, organizations, and citizens), and several live music acts.

Of course, the main attraction of the day was the Duck Race, which was first run down the Naugatuck River in 1999. The Lions Club sold thousands of tickets to adopt ducks, which were released at the bottom of Volunteer Park, running about a quarter-mile down river before the first eight ducks to finish the race were fished from the water as prize winners.

The first prize, a $1,500 voucher good at EZ Travel in Ansonia, was won by Rebecca Ventimiglia. Other prizes included a four-piece set of Samsonite luggage, a PlayStation 3, a digital camera, and several gift certificates.

“We want to thank everybody for coming down, despite the weather,” Lions Club President Rod Farrell said just before announcing the prize winners, “This event is a lot of fun, and we hope to see everybody back next year.”

In this 2007 photo, Bill Fredericks (left) and Joe Poirier (center) trailed by Joy Adamatis, carry ducks to the riverside during Beacon Falls’ annual Riverfest and Duck Race. This year’s event takes place Saturday.

Pollution of the river might have improved considerably since that time, but it will run yellow on Saturday—not with toxic waste or poisonous chemicals, but with little yellow rubber ducks—as part of the town’s 11th Annual Riverfest and Duck Race.

Participants can sponsor a numbered duck for $5 and receive a raffle ticket with the same number. The ducks are dropped into the river, allowed to cruise for a couple hundred yards then driven down a bottleneck, which eventually allows only one duck at a time to pass—and only the strong survive.

The sponsors of the first several ducks to pass the finish line will win prizes that include a Playstation 3, a fishing trip, and a $1,500 travel voucher.

Proceeds from the race will benefit Lions Club scholarships for Woodland seniors.

But the duck race isn’t the only thing to see at the Riverfest, though it might be the most touted spectacle.

The Woodland Fine Arts booster Club will hold an art show and silent auction, the Beacon Falls Merchant’s Association will announce the winners of its “Think Globally, Shop Locally” contest, and games, crafts, food, and live music will be available all day.

Bradley said the event started off as a “bit of a farce … a tongue-in-cheek sort of thing,” but that it’s now become something of a tradition for Beacon Falls denizens.

Beacon Falls First Selectman Sue Cable indicated the Riverfest’s importance in “highlighting [Beacon Falls’] downtown revitalization” and giving commissions and volunteer organizations a chance to “showcase what they do and let people know what we have in the community.”

This year, for the first time, there will be a scavenger hunt associated with the Riverfest, which will continue two weeks after the event.

Local businesses, organizations, and even some private residents have purchased a total of 21 three-by-three foot, roughly 150-pound fiberglass ducks. These will be on display on Main Street until Oct 13, at which point they will be redistributed to their respective owners—at this point, residents can hunt down the ducks and answer a trivia question that corresponds to each duck found. The first three people to find all the ducks and answer the questions correctly will win a prize.