A TWO-week scarecrow festival, delayed to pay respect to The Queen, will be back in business with imaginative and zany scarecrow creations dotted around the village.
Droxford Scarecrow Festival was set to start on September 10 for 14 days of scarecrow displays, returning for the first time since 2019. However, due to the death of The Queen, the launch event was delayed with most scarecrows now expected to be up around the village by the weekend beginning September 17. In light of the delay, the scarecrows are likely to stay up for another week, coming down on October 1 rather than September 24.
This year, Droxford is hoping to match their previous total, in 2019, of 90 scarecrows around the village. Assistant organiser, Nigel Spelman, said: “As Droxford is a small village this is quite an achievement. Already there are some really good ones, and more are appearing every day.
“There are scarecrows to appeal to all ages and plenty of fun photo opportunities for visitors. Droxford is a very friendly village, and the festival really puts a smile on people’s faces.”
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The festival was created by resident Debbie Foster to bring the community together. The biennial festival concludes with a party for the whole village where the winners of each category, children, young adults, open class and special awards, are announced.
The community event received a small grant from Winchester City Council, funding scarecrow kits that are free to all participating villagers. The kits, put together by organiser Debbie, provide basic materials like straw and timber to construct a framework.
The third instalment of the festival is welcoming guests from the University of Droxford, the scarecrow university. Guests include three celebrated scarecrows: ‘the brilliant scientist who invented the Droxford vaccine’, ‘the captain of the Droxford boat race team’, and a ‘blue-stocking academic’.
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Visitors are free to walk around the village and spot the scarecrows, with maps available from the local café, village shop and both pubs. There is no charge, but the map includes a link to a voluntary donations web page, raising money for local causes.
The Meon Valley village is approximately five miles east of Bishop’s Waltham and six miles north of Wickham within the South Downs National Park.
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