Total Pageviews

Sunday 28 August 2022

Scarecrows, Festivals and Fun Food

"Scarecrow festivals are held all over the world, but they are especially popular in the United Kingdom, where the use of scarecrows as a protector of crops date from time immemorial. 


Scarecrows are usually built from straw and wood, but in medieval Britain, scarecrows were young boys who were tasked with the responsibility of scaring away birds. Known as bird scarers or bird shooers, they patrolled wheat fields carrying bags of stones, and chased away any crow or starling that tried to land in the fields by waving their arms and throwing the stones.

When the Great Plague of of 1348 wiped half the population in Britain, landowners couldn’t find enough young boys to employ as bird scarers to protect their crops. So they stuffed sacks with straw, carved faces in turnips or gourds, and made scarecrows that stood against poles. Bird scarers continued to patrol British fields until the early 1800s when new factories and mines opened up and offered children better paying jobs.

Today, hundreds of villages all over Britain bring colour, vibrancy and fun to the countryside by organizing Scarecrow Festivals, where residents compete with each other to build the best scarecrow from whatever material they can lay their hands upon — pots and pans, tree stumps and branches, broken furniture and discarded clothing. The scarecrows are then displayed outside their home, in their lawns or on the streets, for all to see. The festivals usually take place in the summer, between May and July, but some towns prefer to hold them in Autumn.


Despite the centuries old tradition with scarecrows, most Scarecrow Festivals in Britain are less than twenty years old. They are organized as a fun activity for both kids and adults and are usually associated with some kind of fund raising for charities.

Some of the towns where the festival is more popular are Kettlewell, Heather, Wray, Barton Mills, Flamstead, Bromyard and many many more."
Above words taken from here and all images from google


Have you visited any scarecrow festivals? They can be such fun, although in recent years during Covid many festivals had to be cancelled. 

However, with Autumn just around the corner there could be one near where you live šŸ˜Š

If you are looking for an inspirational scarecrow (or Halloween) snack why not try this
Scarecrow Dip Platter
such fun - more details here



This blog is presented in a magazine style - we hope something for everyone. You will find a variety of articles, studies, thoughts, photographs, music and recipes! However, not all the recipes ideas featured in this blog may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. If you have any concerns about your health it is always advisable to consult your Doctor or health care team

All the best Jan

47 comments:

Pam said...

We do not have scarecrow festivals around here. We just had our Tomato Festival last weekend. Here in TN we have all sorts of festivals though....we even have a cornbread festival. I love fall though and I am so waiting for the heat of summer to die down and the leaves to start floating to the ground.

Tom said...

...scarecrows haven't start to appear here, but we will them. I like the flowerpot ones.

happyone said...

So enjoyed seeing all the scarecrows!!!

Victor S E Moubarak said...

I remember the Wombles. Really miss them.

God bless.

sandy said...

so interesting ...enjoyed reading this. I remember enjoying a lot of scarecrows up in Cambria, Ca when they have the scarecrows out. Not sure it is called a festival but there are quite a few around town.

Lorrie said...

I always enjoy seeing a scarecrow in a field. To my knowledge there are no scarecrow festivals here. They sound like a fun event.

bread&salt said...

What an interesting information! We dont have a scarecrow festival around here. But our farmers still use of them in their farms (as traditionaly). I loved your scarecrow's photos. Look great. Thanks for the post. Greetings.

My name is Erika. said...

That is really interesting about scarecrows. We have festivals here too and they are fun to see. Happy new week.

Conniecrafter said...

I have been to scarecrow festivals in the states but never saw any when we lived in England. But then you said it has been the last 20 years and I had to think we have not been there in 22 years, it doesn't seem like that long ago, boy time flies. It was neat reading the history of it all :)

J.P. Alexander said...

Uy que lindos espantapƔjaros.La comida se ve muy rica. Te mando un beso.

peppylady (Dora) said...

I really haven't thought of fall
Coffee is on and stay safe

Angie's Recipes said...

I have never been to a scarecrows festival. It sounds and looks really fun!

Margaret D said...

Interesting read. We don't have anything to celebrate scarecrows, we hardly ever see one in anyone's garden. We never needed one when we had a veggie garden.

Elephant's Child said...

They are a heap of fun. Sadly I don't think we have scarecrow festivals here.

Practical Parsimony said...

The Botanical Gardens in Huntsville, Alabama has a Scarecrow Trail. It seems a person must win a contest to be included. I have forgotten the details. I made a scarecrow once and it was popular in my neighborhood. I need to make another. I didn't know that about the young boys scaring crows.

Breathtaking said...

Hello, :=) What fun!:=)) It is not a traditional thing to have Scarecrow festivals here in Portugal, but there is a pretty convincing Scarecrow on the farm where I live. It was made by my foreman and his daughter to try to keep the foxes away from our chickens. I like the idea of a Scarecrow festival, and you share some really cute ones, but I don't think they are scary enough to frighten away any crows. Crows are intelligent birds, and would soon discover they had nothing to fear from plant pot men, although I get that it is just a bit of fun, and children will love them. Thanks for the information about the young boys hired to scare the crows away.
All the best.

Giorgio said...

Nice scarecrows :-) I enjoyed your post!
I hope you had a great time when were on holiday!

Jo said...

We've visited the Scarecrow Festival at Kettlewell many times, they put on such a great display all over the village, it seems all the residents join in. We were hoping to go again this year but it was the week that Archie was on enforced rest due to his limp so we missed it.

Marco Luijken said...

Hello,
What a funny post. So nice all these scarecrows.
Very nice figures they have made.
And a funny creations with food. Very nice!!

Many greetings,
Marco

eileeninmd said...

The scarecrows are cute! We have similar fall festivals here, they are fun.
Take care, have a happy new week!

chica said...

Que lindo festival ,cheio de alegria e cores! beijos, chica

Jeff said...

I don't know of any scarecrow festivals, but I see a lot of them in the gardens of folks around here. I didn't know the history of the festival, thanks for sharing it.

R's Rue said...

Fun food yes

Valerie-Jael said...

Fabulous scarecrows and GREAT food! Valerie

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Fun festivals! None here that I know of, but some towns put scare crow type figures around town in the fall.

Christine said...

Nice to know the history of scarecrows

DeniseinVA said...

Fun post, very much enjoyed. Thanks Jan :)

carol l mckenna said...

Oh wonderful scare crow photos ~ coming up to that time of year ~ Xo

Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,

A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Teresa said...

Todo lo que nos cuentas me parece divertido. Bonitos espantapƔjaros. Besos.

Hootin Anni said...

This is an amazing bit of history!! I really appreciate the share!! I learned a lot with your help in posting this!!

Divers and Sundry said...

We have a local nature park that features scarecrows in the fall of the year. I get a kick out of the variety.

Inger said...

Thanks for this post, it really made me smile.

Martha said...

Such cute scarecrows!

CJ Kennedy said...

Adorable scarecrows and the snack platter is a cute idea

Creations By Cindy said...

Adorable scarecrows! I love scarecrows and used to collect them for Fall. When I retired I decided to clean out my She-shed and I gave a lot away. Only kept a few of my favs. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

Jeanie said...

Scarecrows are such a fun fall thing but I didn't realize they were as popular in the UK as they are here. I loved all the background info and great pix, too!

Stefania said...

Bellissime le foto degli spaventapasseri ... Ci vuole tantissima fantasia per realizzare delle cose cosƬ belle. E che dire del piatto???

Lowcarb team member said...

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

J.P. Alexander said...
Uy que lindos espantapƔjaros.La comida se ve muy rica. Te mando un beso

Oops that cute scarecrows. The food looks very tasty. I send you a kiss

Chica said...
Que lindo festival ,cheio de alegria e cores! beijos, chica

What a beautiful festival, full of joy and colours! kisses, chica

Teresa said...
Todo lo que nos cuentas me parece divertido. Bonitos espantapƔjaros. Besos.

Everything you tell us seems funny to me. Nice scarecrows. Kisses.

Stefania said...
Bellissime le foto degli spaventapasseri ... Ci vuole tantissima fantasia per realizzare delle cose cosƬ belle. E che dire del piatto???

Beautiful photos of scarecrows ... It takes a lot of imagination to make such beautiful things. And what about the dish???



Laura. M said...

Curiosos y divertidos festivales. Se ven muy bien. Hoy me enterƩ de esto. Gracias.
Un abrazo.

Lowcarb team member said...

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

Laura. M said...
Curiosos y divertidos festivales. Se ven muy bien. Hoy me enterƩ de esto. Gracias.
Un abraz

Curious and fun festivals. They look great. Today I found out about this. Thank you.
A hug

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

When I first saw that dip, I thought it was a flour tortilla. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was actually a dip.

I've never heard of scarecrow festivals. They sound like fun, though.

William Kendall said...

There is a neighborhood here that puts up scarecrows as part of fall decorations.

Sami said...

I had no idea of the story behind scarecrows, how interesting. And I didn't know they have scarecrow festivals either, what fun!

Linda P said...

When we were out and about in the countryside the other day we saw some scarecrows in a farmer's field. They looked individual, home made and it was good to see this old tradition going on. I'm pleased scarecrow and harvest festivals are again happening in our communities.

Ananka said...

These aren nice photos and like the platter :-D

Anne (cornucopia) said...

I just saw a scarecrow today (in a store), similar to your first photo. And I especially love that dip platter! Fall Harvest / Halloween are one of my favorite times of year.

Snowbird said...

What an enjoyable read. I loved the plant pot scarecrows.xxx