It’ll be all fright on the night at scarecrow festival
IF you are going to be driving through Derby next weekend, don’t be too surprised if you are met by dozens of scarecrows.
The Allestree Scarecrow Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Anyone can get involved in making their own scarecrows to be displayed outside their houses, with stalls, a barbecue and bouncy castles to be set up at the Red Cow pub in St Edmund’s Close.
People taking part can pick their maps up from the pub before heading around Allestree to spot as many scarecrows as possible, with around 45 already confirmed as taking part.
Diane Dunkley and husband Mark, of the Red Cow, have high hopes for the event.
Diane said: “We’re glad it’s going ahead properly this year! The first one was 2019 which was a roaring success, it really was, and then of course Covid hit last year so the second one was simply just the scarecrows.
“We didn’t have the event here, even though we were open we just didn’t want to attract a crowd and cause any bother, so we just did the Scarecrow trail and then that was it.
“But after the first year, we’re doing the same things this year there will be a barbecue, bouncy castles, we’ve got loads of trade stalls coming, a raffle, and the restaurant is open here.
“It’s going to be fun. You pick your map up from here, then you follow the trail, the scarecrows are all numbered on the map. There’s no theme this year, so anything goes!”
It is the third instalment of the popular community event, which last year had a Disney theme and will run from 10am to around 4pm each day.
The scarecrows will appear overnight on Friday, with stalls dotted around the pub and its garden. The event is free, although visitors can make a suggested donation of £2 when getting their maps. It first came about in 2019 after a young couple – Kieron McGheehan and Charlotte Morgan – suggested the idea and, after nobody came forward to help host it, Diane and Mark volunteered to help organise the event.
The first event raised around £2,000, and Diane and Mark, who have been at the Red Cow for four and a half years after moving from Manchester, said the event is important for community spirit after a difficult time during the pandemic. Diane said: “We sat down and decided it’s a really good idea, and it’s a nice thing for the village. There are not many community events in the village so we thought we would start one off!
“We’ve missed that sense of camaraderie. That sense of community has always been here, right through the pandemic in the village everyone’s been fantastic with each other.
“We’ve been looking out for neighbours and cooking for neighbours who are self isolating and things like that, we did a
Sunday lunch takeaway service as well when we were closed.
“So we have seen people, it’s been nice to see people through doing that, but we’ve missed all our customers, we really have, as you do get very close to them and some of them are quite elderly and you worry that you’re not seeing them, as being on your own is not much fun. It’s lovely to be back open and to see everyone, and we’ve had fantastic support.”
Councillor Ged Potter, representative for Allestree ward at Derby City Council, will be part of a judging panel along with Pauline Latham MP and Councillor Robin Wood, the Mayor of Derby, with the scarecrows placed in several different award categories.
Mr Potter said he and his colleagues fully supported the event and hoped to see the whole community take part.
He said: “I’ve just been blown away by the standards of the scarecrows, absolutely blown away, they’re so professional. The amount of hours that people must put into making these scarecrows, it must have taken an age. “The Allestree scarecrow festival has all the makings of a great family weekend. It’s been made possible by the hard work, not only of the organisers, but also the brilliant efforts of the makers of the scarecrows.
“Allestree councillors would like to see all the residents out to have a family weekend, and it’s a festival and unfortunately we’ve not been able to do much during the last few months, and this is our big chance to get Allestree moving again.”
It’s lovely to be back open and to see everyone, and we’ve had fantastic support.
Diane Dunkley