Solvang will welcome autumn with its 15th Annual Scarecrow Fest and Contest, Tuesday, Oct. 1. During the month-long event, which concludes on Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 31, Solvang businesses and organizations will participate in the contest by featuring a scarecrow of their own creation posted at their location.
The 2024 festival includes the use of QR codes and a digital voting system, as well as using traditional paper maps and ballots.
Locals, tourists, and area merchants may vote on the contest’s website for
Solvang scarecrow winners in six categories: Best Scarecrow Photo Op, Best Use of Recycled Materials, Best Use of Business Theme, Most Danish, Spookiest, and Most Humorous.
Scarecrow maps will be available on the website and inside local businesses, along with the corresponding QR codes. For participating scarecrows to be included on the map, entry forms for the 2024 Solvang Scarecrow Fest need to be registered by Thursday, Sept. 26.
Once this year’s Best Solvang Scarecrow has been chosen, the winner will be announced and celebrated Thursday, Nov. 14 at Montecito Bank & Trust, 591 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang.
The overall winner will receive the contest’s exclusive, handcrafted trophy – the Harvest Cup – made by well-known blacksmith Hans Duus, which they may keep on display in their place of business until the conclusion of the following year’s contest.
The Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society was awarded the 2023 Harvest Cup. , is to serve our community by providing and promoting humane, compassionate, and conscientious care of companion animals,
“This is the 15th year that the [Scarecrow] contest is being celebrated in Solvang, and other Santa Ynez Valley towns have embraced the fest,” said Tracy Beard, Solvang Chamber of Commerce executive director.
“The more that each town gets into this, the better the experience for both locals and visitors, whose community involvement, and visits, respectively, benefit the local economy of the entire valley,” Beard said.
The six Solvang Scarecrow Fest voting categories mentioned above were selected through an effort to nurture friendly competition and community among Solvang locals, to highlight the unique traits that Solvang possesses, and to encourage mindful, eco-conscious creativity, the chamber said.
Businesses and organizations throughout Solvang are invited to participate in the Scarecrow Fest and Contest; participation in the contest is $25.
Direct questions about the 2024 Solvang Scarecrow Fest to the Solvang Chamber at mitzi@solvangchamber.com.
For more about this year’s Solvang Scarecrow Fest, visit www.SYVscarecrows.com.
( Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society & DAWG awarded the Harvest Cup 2023)