The streets of Bragg Creek will be lined with scarecrows of all shapes and sizes from Oct. 3 to Nov. 2 for the second annual Bragg Creek Scarecrow Festival.
“Anything goes, but has to be outside for a month so it needs to be able to weather well,” said Stacia Hemmett, owner of My Favorite Store and the organizer of the festival.
She said it was hard for her to pick a favourite from last year, but did mention an ode to Miley Cirus from the Wrecking Ball video.
“I think this year because so many people rose to the challenge last year, people are going to throw down the gloves and try to knock it out of the park,” said Hemmett.
Hemmett said she originally started the festival because the community has a bit of a slump between summer holidays and the Christmas shopping season. Her friend told her about a scarecrow festival that happened in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia and how fun it was.
She thought it was a great idea and something everyone could get in on and get excited about – while drawing people to local businesses as well.
Unfortunately, the flood hit hard in Bragg Creek last year and Hemmett said they almost had to cancel. She said she was praying for at least 30 scarecrows for their first year – what she got was just over four times that with 131.
She said people came from all over to check out the scarecrows and Bragg Creek, even as far as Saskatchewan.
“People just jumped on the bandwagon and it snowballed,” said Hemmett. “We needed something fun after the flood. I think the timing was right, but since we kicked it off so hard last year, now we’ve challenged ourselves to do it even better this year.”
Maps of where the scarecrows will be located will be available at Moose Mountain General Store and at Hemmett’s store. People can vote for their favourites and return the judging maps to those locations.
Hemmett also said she would like to remind residents who still have their scarecrows up from last year to take them down before this year’s festival begins.
There will be seven categories and the winners will be announced on the Facebook page (facebook.com/Braggscarecrows) and a ribbon will be placed on the winning scarecrows.
