Wicked Good Guides / Boston for Visitors / Special events

Spring: Make Way for Ducklings Parade

Quack!Make Way for Ducklings is THE Boston children's book - Robert McCloskey's classic tale of how Mr. and Mrs. Mallard find a home for their new brood in the middle of the big city.

The annual Make Way for Ducklings Parade, held every Mother's Day, is THE impossibly cute Boston kids tradition, in which scores of kids dressed as ducks (with the odd Officer Mike scattered about) waddle, walk or are pushed in carriages along Mrs. Mallard's route. Starting at the Boston Common, opposite the State House, the procession winds its way up and down Beacon Hill (where some otherwise staid residents stand curbside and quack at the passing kiddie ducks) before ending at the Public Garden - where the kids promptly line up for a chance to sit on all of the statutes of ducklings and Mrs. Mallard. A trip on a Swan Boat - which will take you around the Duck Island the Mallards settled on, is the perfect way to end the occasion.

Getting there: Take the Green Line to Park Street, then walk up to the top of the Common. When you see lots of kids dressed like ducks, you'll know you're in the right spot. The parade typically kicks off at 1 p.m.

Comments

The 2008 parade starts at noon, with registration at 11:00 a.m. Quack, quack!

Kaja Fickes on May 6, 2008 08:46 PM.

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