There’s a free family Scarecrow Festival coming to Wirral – here’s where to spot them

A free family Scarecrow Festival is coming to Wirral from this weekend, with more than 50 to spot along a trail.

The festival, which starts from Saturday August 16 and runs for nine days, was the idea of Kate Johnson who lives in New Brighton.

She created a trio of scarecrows to stand outside her house last Halloween and they proved such a hit she decided to get the rest of the local community involved.

After setting up social media accounts and putting up posters around pubs and nearby Vale Park, she found plenty of interest from neighbours keen to get making.

She said:

“People have come up with their own ideas, there’s no theme, it’s just whatever they want to do and they’ve really gone to town,”

“We’ve put bunting up in the streets where the scarecrows are, and there’s all kinds of different characters including a Double Crow 7 James Bond one, an old sailor sitting in a boat smoking a pipe, a Surfer Due and Barbie Barbara.

“Somebody has done a Mary Poppins theme and they’ve dressed their house as well so the idea has really got people’s imaginations going.”

Kate has put on this first New Brighton Scarecrow Festival as a not-for-profit free family event, with the help of friends and neighbours Claire Brierton and Gavin Scott. 

“Last year we put three scarecrows outside where we live on Magazine Brow over Halloween. I’d been to the Scarecrow Festival in Thornton Hough years ago, so afterwards we got talking and thought we’d do a festival ourselves this year to see how it went. 

“I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction and how many people wanted to get involved. We’ve got 56 on the trail and people have actually carried on making so there’ll be even more than that to see.”

The trail covers Magazine Brow and nearby roads including Magazine Lane, Mariners Road, Fort Street and Seabank Road as well as Vale Park.

Kate, 50, says all ages have joined in, and she’s been offering tips to anyone who needs them:

“Kids seem to love making scarecrows because they’re quite easy and there’s not a big outlay, you can just use old clothes you’ve got in the house already. 

“Mine is made of chicken wire and she’s got a skirt of ivy, so she’s quite dramatic. She’s held up on two brooms, but some people have used hangers or made wooden frames and then they’ve used stuffed pillows, bubble wrap, anything for the bodies with straw just where you see it to save on cost.”

Kate has compiled a map showing where all the scarecrows are – each one is numbered and there’s a list of names. Kids can solve clues to work out which scarecrow matches which name.

Maps can either be downloaded from the festival’s social media, or Kate and her husband Steve will be handing them out over the weekend.

“I’ll be dressed as a scarecrow and sitting outside my house – I’m at location 1 on the map – on Saturday from 11am so families can pick up a map and I’ll have a big basket of sweets for the kids and lots of pens for them to do the trail. 

“I’ve also got a couple of friends who are dressing up as Worzel Gummidge and Aunt Sally, and a friend owns some tractors and they’re bringing a couple of those down at the weekend for scarecrows to sit on.

“This is our first festival but I’m hoping next year we could make it bigger and do it for charity. The feedback we’ve had already is it’s just a lovely thing for the community and it doesn’t cost anything so it’s accessible to everybody.

“Hopefully it will bring some people into the area too and local businesses, cafes and pubs do well, so everybody will benefit.”

Download a New Brighton Scarecrow Festival trail map here.

Find more great days out across the Wirral here.

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