CARBONDALE — The annual Duck Derby Festival to benefit Special Olympics will look different this year. For the past five years, ducks have been dumped at the lake behind the Expo Hall at the Du Quoin State Fair, but as with many things in 2020, that is not possible this year.

This year’s event will be held at Walker’s Bluff on Sunday, October 4. The socially distanced event will include live music from the band Nine88, selling Ducky souvenirs, of course, allowing people to adopt ducks until the cutoff time. We will announce the winners after 3:00 at the Festival and online.

People interested can adopt a duck or more than one duck (discounts for buying in bulk) as well as order limited edition Ducky Derby T-shirt which is selling fast. The website for all things ducky is www.duckyderbydash.com.

Special Olympics athletes are not currently able to compete as many of them are at high risk for illness. Special Olympics Region K has been offering online programming, e-sports competitions, workouts online and other health activities to keep them safe. Special Olympics is currently funding for the future of competitions, as they will look a bit different when the clearance for return to play is finally here. The Ducky Derby Dash is a major funding source.