CRISFIELD, Md. — A small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore is celebrating its history in a big way. Crisfield is hosting its Little BIG Townfest from Aug. 11-13. The festival includes food, music, art and the world's largest rubber duck.
The mama duck is as high as the tallest buildings in Crisfield, coming in at a staggering 6-stories tall. Her little duckie will also join her at Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield. Along with duck selfies galore there will be fun for all ages including music all three days, a duck scavenger hunt, photography contest and boat exhibits from the U.S. Coast Guard. There will also be artists and craft vendors along with free tours of the Heritage Museum all along the historic waterfront town.
"The World's Largest Rubber Duck brings attention to waterfront towns in a whimsical way and I thought it would be a way for more people to come to Crisfield via car, motorcycle or boat to visit the beauty of the Eastern Shore," said Heather Ross with the Crisfield Arts and Entertainment District.
Crisfield is a town of about 2,500 people with a lot of history surrounding ducks.
"Crisfield is a duck town being the home of the famous Ward Brothers, who carved duck decoys," Ross said.
According to the Ward Brothers Foundation, the carving partnership of L. T. Ward & Bro. of Crisfield, Maryland created waterfowl decoys and decorative bird carvings that established and maintained a unique standard of realism and artistic expression. Stephen Ward (1895-1976) and Lemuel T. Ward, Jr. (1896-1984) were makers of hunting decoys until the early 1950s, when the introduction of plastic, factory-made hunting decoys and a growing collector demand for their realistic carvings prompted them to switch to the production of miniature and life-sized decorative birds.
For more information on Little BIG Townfest, including a schedule of events, click here.
The duck is also making an appearance in Leonardtown from Aug. 4-6.
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