That massive rubber duck that drew crowds to Toronto's waterfront in 2017 is coming back this year for what will now be known as the Toronto Waterfront Festival, officially renamed today from its past branding of the Redpath Waterfront Festival.

The annual festival will arrive in Toronto from September 16-17, 2023, including the long-awaited return of the World's Largest Rubber Duck which attracted more than 750,000 visitors to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017.

An unbelievable number of people visited the giant rubber duck in #Toronto https://t.co/ivXccksqdt pic.twitter.com/SVAfcMRCuu

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 5, 2017

A return of the enormous yellow duck — standing six storeys and weighing 30,000 lbs — was initially planned for the festival in 2020, but then that whole 2020 thing happened, forcing the cancellation of its visit and just about everything else that was supposed to occur that year.

The duck’s previous visit to Toronto was a resounding success, with 75 per cent of visitors to the 2017 festival saying the duck was the prime reason they attended.

The giant rubber duck brought in big bucks for #Toronto https://t.co/8VYrBPVeUl pic.twitter.com/Sdomm5YOpR

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 11, 2017

"The number one program we continually get asked to bring back is by far the World's Largest Rubber Duck. After six years, we are very excited to have Mama Duck back to Toronto's Waterfront to celebrate the last weekend of summer," said Nancy Gavin, Chair of the Toronto Waterfront Festival.

Already missing the world's biggest rubber duck - Photo by Ben Roffelsen https://t.co/jjl635eu1B pic.twitter.com/XoJophDPFO

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 5, 2017

The duck may be making its first physical appearance in the city since 2017, and it was clearly missed, its success leading to the creation of an augmented reality virtual duck in 2021. It even spawned copycat ducks.

As for the name change, Redpath Sugar will no longer be the title sponsor of the festival after an 11-year partnership, though will remain involved as a major programming partner of the festival.

"The Toronto Waterfront Festival has been, and continues to be, a wonderful avenue for us to support tourism, talent, and business, as well as engage with our community and bring people together," said Judy Yu, Manager of Brand Development for Redpath Sugar.