Last held in 2012 in conjunction with the Big River Festival, the raft race is being organised by members of the Clutha Young Professionals group and will be held on March 4.
Event organiser Laura Moore said locals were asked to build their own raft and float down the river before pulling up at a boat ramp just south of the Balclutha Bridge.
It was unclear why the event had not been held in the past five years.
However, Ms Moore wanted to bring it back, as it was an opportunity for people to get out and do something different in Balclutha.
''It used to be quite a big thing for Balclutha.''
The young professionals group wanted to organise something for the community.
Originally held in 1971, the first raft race had over 100 entries and was held sporadically over the following 40 years.
The rafts had to be powered by paddles and no motors were allowed.
The boats also had to have a tie rope in case a rescue was required.
Ms Moore also said life jackets were a must and alcohol was not to be consumed.
Clutha Development marketing manager Kelsey Harrison said that there would be prizes for the top-placing rafts as well as ''booby prizes''.
She was excited about the event, as it would be a lot of fun.
''We've got this beautiful big river ... we may as well use it.''
Ms Harrison said the organising committee would see how the event ran and might consider organising the Big River Festival next year, if the raft race proved popular.
