The streets of the village of Heather were alive with scarecrows once more with the Heather Scarecrow Festival 2023. 78 scarecrows lovingly hand crafted by residents, schools and local businesses made up the trail and created a fantastic day out.

Visitors were able to vote for their favourite top three scarecrows and their favourite school’s scarecrow, so competition is friendly but fierce! There is also a Treasure Hunt for visitors to partake in by finding the miniature Sammy Scarecrows dotted around.

HSSP are a proud sponsor of the festival and our entry this year was called ‘Surprise Crow’ with our scarecrow being an artist painting a canvas of the festival’s mascot, Sammy Scarecrow.

The votes have been counted and the results are in. This year a Super Mario themed scarecrow took the top spot, with the M&M’s coming in second and Ursula from the Little Mermaid scoping third. They were joined by Barbie, Ohana, a ginormous incy wincy spider, a Mr Cronopoly Man and more.

Ros was highly honoured to also be asked to judge The Di Everett Award 2023 for the ‘Most Topical’ scarecrow. With clipboard and camera in hand, she set off on his wonderful mission and eventually chose Number 61 – In the Dog House, as the equal pay sought by the sheep and the dogs captured the topical essence of folks fighting for their idea of fair pay.

Many congratulations to all of the winners and a huge thank you to all of the creators, organisers and everyone who has been involved. It’s a fun day out and the funds raised directly benefit the local community. Why not pop along next year?

By HSSP Architects