Straw men draw in the crowds for village festival
THERE weren’t many birds in Sonning over the two Platinum Jubilee bank holidays, and it’s all thanks to the bi-annual Scarecrow Trail.
In all, 64 homes and businesses took part in the trail, creating fantastic effigies to delight the thousands of visitors across Jubilee Thursday and Friday.
They included a recreation of The Addams Family, The Mill at Sonning’s nod to its famous director Brian Blessed, and several caustic displays mocking prime minister Boris Johnson over his law-breaking parties during the pandemic lockdown.
One of the organisers, Barbara Carr, was thrilled with how the two-day event had gone – Sonning’s first for four years, after covid had nixed the missing show.
“We are delighted with how it went,” she said, adding that the turnout was high.
“We had no idea how many people would turn up when so many things were going on.”
“We think we’ve made roundabout £12,000, which will be good for the village.”
A meeting will be held next month to determine how the proceeds will be shared among the Sonning community, with those involved in the festival having a say.
Ms Carr, who has been involved with Sonning since 1968, was delighted with the quality of this year’s entries, adding that her personal favourite was one based on the Stick Man books.
“People are wonderful with their ingenuity in what they come up with,” she said. “While some of them are topical, the whole thing is meant to be fun, they’re not politically motivated – the majority of child motivated.”
The festival included displays based on Toy Story, Harry Potter and Fireman Sam.
“There is a lot of time and work put into them, they seem to spend ages doing them,” Ms Carr said.
“It takes a long time to dry and everything, it’s amazing what people do.”
As well as the scarecrows, there were classic cars to admire and some residents opened their gardens. An art exhibition took place in Pearson Hall.
“People quite enjoy the afternoon out,” Ms Carr said. “The team behind the art exhibition were delighted because they sold more pictures than they’d ever sold before.
“People were delighted to be able to do lots of different things.”
Ms Carr remembers Sonning’s jubilees past, including a pageant with floats for the Silver Jubilee in 1977, and scarecrows for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
“We’re never going to see a platinum jubilee again ... well, I’m not, and not many children around today will,” Ms Carr said.
But one thing they will see is more scarecrows. Already plans are being made for the 2024 festival, but whether Boris Johnson will feature in the displays in anyone’s guess.