In Pictures: The 2012 Wilmslow Scarecrow Festival

by Lisa Reeves

Tuesday 3^rd July 2012

Tue 3^rd Jul 2012

The third Wilmslow Scarecrow Festival has been another big success.

Nearly 100 straw creations are on display bringing colour and a lot of fun to the town centre.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean and Wilmslow Business Group, the seventeen day festival has been well received by local families, who have had great fun wandering around the town hunting for scarecrows, as well as those who put a lot of imagination and hard work into creating them.

Retailers, solicitors, pubs, restaurants, garden centres, Wilmslow Library, a church, care home, medical centre, eight local schools and four day nurseries are all taking part.

Organiser of the Wilmslow Scarecrow Festival Geoff Shelmerdine said "I have seen a number of queens, horses, Olympic athletes, a stork delivering a baby, an eagle and even a very cheeky red thong on display.

"The creativity is as high as ever, the fun factor is off the scale and keen competition abounds to win the coveted 1st Prize Silver cups for Best Business & Best School Scarecrows."

Geoff added "I have also identified that some of the local charity shops are also benefitting from the Scarecrow Festival as they are selling items for making scarecrows."

If you haven't yet had the chance to see the scarecrow festival they will remain on display until close of business on Saturday, 7th July, so there is still plenty of time to take part in the Scarecrow Hunt. Entry forms can be picked up from one of the participating outlets or downloaded here.

A number of the best scarecrows will then be transported to Wilmslow High School for the Wilmslow Show on Sunday, 8th July, where the winner of the best scarecrow competition will be announced at the Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean's stand.

To view our gallery of this year's scarecrows click 'next photo' above or play the slideshow. If you have any good photos of scarecrows we missed please do email them to [email protected].

All profits from the Wilmslow Scarecrow Festival will be donated to local charities and worthy causes. The Rotary Club has currently identified The Time Out Group, who provide support for adults with learning difficulties living in Handforth, Wilmslow and Alderley Edge, as one of the benefactors.

Click here for details about Sunday's 101st Wilmslow Show.

Tags:: Wilmslow Scarecrow Festival

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Steve Kennedy

Wednesday 4^th July 2012 at 11:39 pm

Its my third year of both entering this and supporting it, and when you look at the sheer positives, that its for fun, footfall, families and also business marketing as well as hopefully nearly £2k for a local charity, it still amazes me that so many businesses dont do it. The Batala band inclusion is fab and the coverage from this site was exceptional, thanks Lisa. But please, its just another initiative, we can only do our best but if people & businesses dont join in, then eventually we'll lose it. The same applies to our first ever Brit in Bloom entry. Our town does suffer from a variety of problems, but when people have some skills to kick off or implement a project, with some passion and effort i always think its worth supporting for just a tiny bit of effort and very little financial outlay. My thanks to the Rotary guys yet again, the scarecrows are pretty much their project and their effort with our support that does this thing. Also, RHS judging for our Britain in Bloom entry from Helens Incredible Edible is next Wednesday, 2.5 hour town walkthro by the judges who will be looking for community togetherness with business the council and education as well as the edible displays. Having seen Salfords entry, i dont think we'll beat theirs - Wilmslow is just not that competitive....yet.

Stuart Kinsey

Friday 6^th July 2012 at 10:49 am

The Scarecrow Festival is a fantastic event for all to enjoy ... I do urge people to look out for the Scarecrows and to comment directly to those who have made the effort in supporting the festival. People might also like to "challenge" those who have not entered for missing an opportunity to take part, have fun, support local charities ... and promote their business! You might encourage them to take part next year!

Ian Bradley

Friday 6^th July 2012 at 11:10 am

Great to see such a selection of scarecrows here on the website. I have not been able to tour round all the shops and businesses but will aim to do so on Saturday to see as many as possible.