PHOTOS: The Tall Ships Festival Kicks Off On the Waterfront

Photo by HughE Dillon

Thanks to that giant rubber duck, the Tall Ships Festival is one of the most-hyped events of summer. It officially kicked off Thursday, with more than a dozen mega vessels from around the globe on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden.

The duck actually looks surprisingly small in the photos HughE Dillon captured at the kickoff, and he apparently had a little trouble making it to the party: “The duck couldn’t fight the wind to make it up the Delaware,” HughE says. “It got stuck on one of those barges that has been anchored in the Delaware for the past year. Tug boats and the Water Board had to go over and dislodge it. It tried to continue its journey, but the organizers realized it just wasn’t going to make it. They towed it to an area near the aquarium, where it was being docked.”

Poor guy. Hopefully he’ll have better luck this weekend. Check out more of HughE’s shots, taken from the Independence Seaport Museum. If you look closely at the photo below, you’ll see that another feathered friend made his way to the festivities—it’s Eagles mascot Swoop riding on the fittingly named U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle.

The Tall Ships Festival continues through Sunday, June 28th. For more information, go here.