Bromyard Scarecrow Festival 2025
This is a special year for us as we have recently lost one of our founder members, Richard Orgee. Richard and his wife Monica brought the idea of a scarecrow festival back from one of their holidays and we developed it from there, with both Richard and Monica playing a key role. Monica died a few years ago and now we are without Richard, so let’s make it special!
The theme of this year’s scarecrow festival will be GAMES; It could be a board game, an outside game, a card game, even a computer game, there’s plenty of scope. The festival will take place over the weekend of Friday 13th June, Saturday 14th June and Sunday 15th June. Why not make a scarecrow with friends and neighbours, associations or groups you belong to, or with your family?
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15
Our idea is to create an easy walking route to each scarecrow around the town. Scarecrows can be placed in town by you, in your garden, outside where you live, in the window of your business in town or placed by our team around the town; it is your choice. They will be judged on the Saturday morning, 15th June 2025, from 11 o’clock. Our judges are strictly impartial and are from outside of Bromyard. The prizes are: £75 1st prize, 2nd prize £50, 3rd prize £25 plus certificates for those who are Highly Commended.
Competition
We will compile our normal competition booklet for adults. Competitors are required to match a scarecrow to a cryptic clue in our competition booklet. We try not to make it too challenging; it’s meant to be fun! There will also be a children’s competition as normal with clues on each scarecrow. The adult with the most correct answers wins £50 and for the winning child there will be a £25 book token. In the event of more than one winning entry we reserve the right to select a winner. Competition forms will be available from the Friday evening.
Grand Scarecrow Parade
On the evening of Friday 13th June there will be a parade of Entourages around the town. They will be based on the same theme and are often made by schools, guides, scouts etc., but anyone can enter. The scarecrows need to be mobile so that they can be pushed through town. If you make a scarecrow it is not essential to enter the parade. Those in the parade will assemble in St Peter’s churchyard at 6.30pm and then lead off along Church Street at 7.00pm. The parade then turns up Broad Street and High Street, ending in the Churchyard to avoid a crush, where they will be judged. There will be up to four prizes of £50 each, at the judges’ discretion. It is a great spectacle and enormous fun, led by a marching band, and there is usually a good turnout of people to watch on the streets. We make a bucket collection; this collection will go towards offsetting the cost of the event, in addition to supporting the town of Bromyard in promoting its festivals. The band will continue to play. The scarecrows can then be stored by us ready for the weekend or can be taken by owners to their locations for the weekend.
Sponsorship
If you would like someone to sponsor your scarecrow, we will put it on your scarecrow, in our competition booklet and list it in our sales kiosk. Cheques are payable to Bromyard Scarecrow Festival, Business account, sort code: 30-94- 99, account no 1817598.
Building a Scarecrow
If you wish to build a scarecrow you first need to contact Lynne Wilkins at bromyardscarecrows@gmail.com or 01885 488206/07866528929 to make sure that your choice hasn’t already been selected by someone else. It is important that your choice is original; it would be a shame to have any duplication.