More than 100 scarecrows will take over Muston, near Filey, later this month when the village’s annual internationally-acclaimed scarecrow festival gets underway.
The festival, which runs from Saturday 30 July until Sunday 7 August, has in the past attracted thousands of people from throughout the UK and overseas. This year, organisers are hoping villagers will be inspired by the influences of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90 th birthday, Tour de Yorkshire and Brexit.
Scarecrows are placed all round the village on pavements and roofs, in gardens and hedges and on open spaces such as the village green and grass verges. At last year’s festival, visitors came face to face with a whole cast of scarecrow characters, including hay bale Minions, Paddington Bear and the much loved queen of baking, Mary Berry.
The scarecrows can be viewed each day of the festival from 9am until 9pm apart from the last day on Sunday 7 August when it will close at 5pm.
Cllr Godfrey Allanson, one of the organisers of the festival and Chairman of the Muston Millennium Committee said:
“We always know when the scarecrow festival is just around the corner when we see exceptional levels of activity in the village as the community works hard to prepare to welcome thousands of visitors. The villagers are also busy behind closed doors working on their show-stopping scarecrows, keeping their plans secret right up until the last minute. We are hoping for a bumper attendance this year to help boost our funds in support of a Heritage Lottery Fund bid for a new village hall.
“New for 2016 is filming of the festival by drone to produce aerial footage. We can’t wait to see what our scarecrow friends will look like from above!”
Muston’s temporary inhabitants will be judged by the Mayor and Mayoress of the Borough of Scarborough, Cllr Simon Green and wife Val. The owner of the winning scarecrow will receive £150.
Visitors to the festival can enter a competition to guess the first, second and third placed scarecrows, with the nearest correct answer to the judge’s decision also winning a cash prize.
The Ann Stevenson Shield, donated by Brian and Margaret Stevenson in memory of their daughter, will also be awarded.
Throughout the festival there will also be displays in the village’s parish church based on a ‘Forever Friends’ theme. These can be viewed each day between 10.30am and 6pm (except on Sunday 31 July and Sunday 7 August when the display will be open from 11am).
Running alongside the festival, the Muston in Bloom group is organising a Duck Derby.
Races will be held on the festival’s opening day, Saturday 30 July. The winner of each heat will win £50.
Money raised from the festival goes into a number of organisations and projects in Muston with this year’s main cause being to financially support the bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to build a new village hall. Any money not spent on the actual bid submission will be used towards redevelopment itself.
More information about the festival can be found at www.mustonscarecrowfestival.com or The Official Muston Scarecrow Festival Facebook page.