Public ‘Running of the Goats’ Returns to Riverside Park Wednesday; Then They Feast
Posted on July 13, 2021 at 2:07 pm by West Sider
The face of determination, from the 2019 Running of the Goats. Photo by Mildred Alpern.
After a hiatus in 2020, goats are returning to Riverside Park this year to chomp their way through the park’s underbrush. A ceremonial “Running of the Goats” will take place on Wednesday, July 14, at 11 a.m. at 120th Street, with music and speeches from luminaries.
There will be 24 goats running down the path during the show, and deprived city children will get to see their first four-legged animals that are neither dog, nor cats, nor rats.
The goats were a success in 2019, effectively clearing weeds and scraggly bits from the park’s hills, and they were a draw for locals in need of some encounters with the wild.
The ceremony on Wednesday will take place from 11 a.m. to noon, and wil include the song “The Lonely Goatherd” made famous in The Sound of Music.
This year, five of the goats will remain in the park to eat the weeds, and people will be able to vote on the Riverside Park Conservancy website for which one is “best” — at being a goat presumably.
The candidates are:
Skittles, a seasoned park veteran, finalist for the G.O.A.T. title in 2019;
Buckles, a popular cheerleader for the Park, sometimes struggles to distinguish porcelain berry from mugwort;
Chalupa, keeps his head down, ate through the park in 2019, some say not exciting but works hard to get the job done;
Mallemar, known to be truly idealistic, a booster of all goats, lover of all park visitors;
Ms. Bo Peep, newcomer to the scene, a wildcard rookie.
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