Little Rubber Duckies Come to Bodega Seafood, Art, & Wine Festival

Rubber duck races will be just part of the wide range of fun and activities at the 16^th Annual Bodega Seafood, Art, & Wine Festival.

The little yellow guys will be numbered, and for $5 a duck, you can adopt one and send it down a site-built “waterway” in the hourly races both Saturday & Sunday, August 28^th & 29^th.

Each hour’s finalist will then compete in the final race on Sunday at 4:00pm.

The donated prizes awarded to the top four winning duck adopters are: 1^st Place – a Softtub from A Hot Tub Place, Inc. ($3,000 value); 2^nd Place – A Package for Two with wine tasting and a one night stay at the Sheraton Hotel at the Petaluma River Marina plus a 5-hour Royal Wine Tour for eight people in a Pacific Limousine ($760 value); 3^rd Place – a one night stay in a luxury suite at MacArthur Park Place in the town of Sonoma ($475 value); and 4^th Place – four Redwood Circle tickets to the Old Grove Festival in Armstrong Redwoods, Guerneville on either September 24^th or 25^th that includes entertainment and a Hawaiian Feast.

All proceeds from the Rubber Duck Races go to the non-profit Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods and to the Bodega Volunteer Fire Department.

For the palate, there will be wine tasting from 30 wineries, as well as beer and ale tasting from 15 micro-breweries. 15 restaurants and catering services will be serving seafood specialties such as crab cakes, Key Lime calamari, barbecued oysters, and clam chowder. Vegetarian food will be available also.

For the art lover, 100 artists and crafts people will be displaying their work.  A juried art show and sale will also take place.

For the musical ear, three stages, and a large dance floor, will have performers both days.  Featured musicians on Saturday include Incendio, Stompy Jones, Midnight Sun, the Susan Comstock Swingtet, and famed saxophonist Jules Brossard.  Sunday it will be Greenhouse, Gator Beat, Jazz Gitan, Three at Last, and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.

For the children, both days will see performances of the wacky Captain Jack Spareribs and some hands-on animals from Wild Wonders Safari.

The location is the Watts Ranch at 16855 Bodega Highway at the east end of the town of Bodega.  Hours on Saturday are 10-6 and on Sunday, 10-5.

Tickets at the door are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $11 for ages 12-18, and free for kids younger than 12.

Tickets can be purchased in advance through Thursday, August 26^th by going to: www.bodegaseafoodfestival.eventbrite.com.

Advance ticket prices are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $8 for 12-18, and free for under 12, plus handling fees per ticket of $1.29, $1.24, and $1.19.

Parking is free, but dogs are not allowed at this event.