The annual Padiham Duck Race was a great success at the weekend.
The race was the highlight of a day of fun on Saturday which included a funfair, stalls and a tombola, face painting, Punch and Judy show and circus acts. The race was broadcast live on facebook from Padiham Town Hall and the lead presenter was well known film maker Kev Furber and his co presenters were the Mayor of Padiham Alun Lewis and Charlotte Steels of Culture Burnley.
The popular event is now known affectionately as the ‘world famous’ duck race and one of the highlights in the town’s calendar of events.
00:00Welcome to Paddyham everybody and it's the world famous Paddyham Duck Race. The ducks are going to go in the water at one o'clock and before then we're going to walk you around the town. It's a beautiful day in Paddyham. I'm your presenter Kevin, co-presenting today with me is Charlotte.
00:13This is my first time at Duck Race and I am so excited. There's such an amazing atmosphere down in Paddyham today. It's a glorious sunny day. It's packed with people. Everybody's sponsoring their ducks.
00:24Our camera person Scotty is on the camera. We're looking at the town. Oh you can see there's literally thousands of people down here. Busy down there for duck sales. I've been on the duck stall this morning. I've just got down here. So it's fantastic. You're having a really good day. The ducks are all there. They've done their exercises. Getting ready for the race. They're all limbered up. What are you laughing at madam?
00:47Four, three, two, one.
00:54And there we have it. The crowd go wild. The Lord Mayor's duck is leading the way at the minute. But being a big duck I don't think he's going to make. Yeah well. I actually don't think it is an advantage apparently. The bigger the duck the slower they travel. Really? Yeah. There's the 500 ducks. And they're all heading in the right direction which is a good sign. So far safe and sound. I hope there's no foul play. You've got to come with your puns now. Yeah.
01:21And that's the thing about events like this isn't it. It's just all about the community. People coming out. Having fun. It's just. It's amazing atmosphere isn't it.
01:30It's amazing. Young man are you enjoying the duck race. I believe it's your first one. Yeah. Yeah. It was a crazy moment in the big drop. And we were all excited for it. So it was good to see it pay off.
01:40I like the voice. I like the tone of voice. It's in the spirit of the race. Lovely that the town council have prepared the area for all the walkers so we can clearly see the ducks.
01:51Have you got the winning duck? Don't know. That's fair. Have you got it? Maybe mummy's got it. Yeah. Hopefully. £100 in my pocket. Only in shallow water. Right. Now should we brave going underneath the arch and see if we can still maintain the live feed? Yeah. We'll try that.
02:13Where are you from ladies? We're from Birtwistle's bakery. Oh yeah. We are. I recognise that face. Hello. I'll sit down with you. So many people will have eaten with your shop and will know you. So we'll have to.
02:28We're busier than ever. We've been busy this morning. I'm guessing people have been up for sandwiches to fetch them down for a picnic.
02:35OK. What do ducks use to fix things? What do ducks use to fix things? Screwdrivers. Think carefully. You will probably have used this product.
02:51No. Duct tape. Duct tape. Oh man. Man that was. The excitement's almost killing us isn't it? I think. Might leave you talking. I'm going to go and check with some officials what's going on.
03:04That's OK. I've got some history about rubber ducks if anybody wants a little bit of historical background.
03:10So. Rubber ducks were first made in the late 1800s and they were made of rubber.
03:17Oh fabulous. I would actually really like it. And you've got a duct tape. Oh is that the bomb bomb bomb.
03:23Got any. Great. Oh that's great. That's so good. Wow. Are you enjoying the duck race?
03:27Yes. I get the feeling this is going to be like the London marathon.
03:31Yes. Where we get some people running it in two hours and some in 14.
03:35Well I think in this case they're all going to be 14 hours unfortunately.
03:40Stay here we've been told. Oh there is a boat coming. We've got the rescue team on the go.
03:48Oh the sea cadets are doing a big job here.
03:50These guys saved the day by lending us the boat that also needs to be at the finish so I need to brief her on that the chief but we'll quickly say hello.
04:01So you're from the sea cadets but where are you from? Tell us all about it.
04:03I'm from Paddyham, Burnley.
04:08Rosendale. Jack Kitchen, Trickett.
04:12Jack Kitchen, Burnley.
04:13Prairie Shaw and I'm from Paddyham.
04:15Cian Phillips and I'm from Burnley.
04:17Remember this day volunteers without you we'd have been nowhere so well done.
04:22It's going to be a great year this year. We'll just look over there talking of people having a good time with a drink in their hand.
04:27We'll see if we can get them to wave to us. We'll zoom in. I'll shout over.
04:32Hello! You're live on Facebook!
04:35That'll do. So this is the finish line that we can see. Have you been, have you got some money on a duck?
04:40Yeah! Yeah, I'm 134.
04:43134. If that comes in I can say it's mine.
04:45That's 136.
04:47136.
04:48Don't vote. You're seeing me and Charlotte talking our way through what is one of the longest duck races that we've ever watched in the 21 years history of the duck race.
04:56There's 500 ducks been racing. They're down to the last 100 feet.
05:01And pretty soon we're going to know the first, second, third.
05:04Paddyham, yay!
05:05We have a winner.
05:06We have a winner.
05:07I think it's pretty clear who's in second place as well.
05:10We have a winner all the way.
05:12What?
05:13Right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to announce the winner of the Paddyham duck race for 2025.
05:21And we're going to hand you over to Mr. Mayor.
05:24The winner...
05:25The winner for the 2025 Paddyham duck race is...
05:29Is...
05:30380.
05:31380.
05:32380.
05:33380.
05:34380.
05:35The winner.
05:36457.
05:37457.
05:38Is in second place.
05:39116.
05:40116.
05:41He's third.
05:4225 pound in Paddyham business vouchers.
05:43282.
05:44282.
05:45That's fourth place.
05:46Ladies and gentlemen, let's have a big, big round of applause for everybody who's had
05:49and took in the race today.
05:50Let's hear a big cheers.
05:51Hear, pig!
05:52Hear, pig!
05:53Hear, pig!
05:54Hear, pig!
05:55Hear, pig!
05:56So we're going to say goodbye.
05:57Thank you for watching Paddyham duck race live.
05:58If you put up with it for the hour and 30 minutes that it took us to do it, well done for getting
06:02to the end.
06:03Anyway, we'll look forward to seeing you in the future.
06:04Yeah.
06:06Thank you ever so much.
06:07And we hope to see you again next year.
06:08Bye from Paddyham.
06:09Bye from Paddyham.
06:10If you put up with it for the hour and 30 minutes that it took us to do it
06:14Well done for getting to the end. Anyway, we'll look forward to seeing the future. Yeah. Thank you for watching
06:20Thank you ever so much. We hope to see you again next year
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