I knew something was amiss as my car approached the village of Leap in County Cork when, from the window, I spotted a body face down by the side of the road.
From a neighbouring field a banshee grimaced with hands outstretched…
…and a witch soared overhead.
It was the very first Hallowe’en Scarecrow Festival, a competition staged by the village to see who could come up with the scariest and/or funniest scarecrow in time for Hallowe’en, and it has proven to be insanely popular. Cars lined the road as I pulled into town and people milled around the main street ogling the hordes of scarecrows on display – I spotted well over a hundred of the spooky little guys popping out of windows, hanging from trees, dancing on rooftops and lolling in coffins.
My favourites of the festival – well, you’ve got to love a pumpkin on a bike with ET in the carrier basket…
…and everyone needs a little Nightmare before Christmas, right?
Here’s hoping this becomes an annual event! Hope you had a very Happy Hallowe’en.
xxx Ailsa
For something a little less contemporary, check out how I celebrated Hallowe’en, or rather Samhain, last year: Echoing the Ancients in the Cradle of Samhain.
Where's my backpack? 
We had some amazing decorations around us as well, but not many trick-or-treaters, as the weather was chilly and a bit rainy. Had to hide the rest of the candy so my husband wouldn’t eat too much. 🙂 Now I have to figure out what to do with it.
janet
Haha we could have done with that extra candy, Janet, I was staying with a friend and we seriously underestimated the number of trick-or-treaters, we were cleaned out within an hour and had to turn off the lights and sneak out for fear of reprisal 🙂
I should have sent you some of ours!!
When I was little, Mom would take us out and Dad would sit at home with the lights out so he didn’t have to go to the door. Too funny.
What great community spirit!
I know, such a brilliant idea, I do so hope they turn it into an annual event, people were coming from miles around to see those scarecrows. 🙂
We have a similar event in our area but focused on decorating hay bales – often hilarious, sometimes political, but always creative!
Yes, the decision that this will be an annual event has been made! The whole village has been thrilled with the success of the first (of many… ) Scarecrow festival… hundreds of visitors daily, from far and wide, in our small village. At the end we had nearly as many scarecrows as our about 200 inhabitants. And the whole thing ended with a big fancy dress party. Check it out on our FB page: An Leim – Leap . We are so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Love it!! 😀
There are a lot of scary scenes here!
Sure hope this becomes annual treat! Awesome parade of ingenuity 🙂 my favs are that guy lounging under a tree and the witch by the green trash bin – super naturalistic!
She won first prize in the artistic section! 🙂
Love those scarecrows!
Brilliant. I’m one of those old ladies who sits in the dark on Halloween, but this might even entice me to join in. 😊
I’ve never been a fan of Halloween , but I realize now , (never say never) that this is a great opportunity of socializing and meeting people in a creative and traditional event!
Fabulous and so creative. My favourite scare is the banshee. 😯
Another first prize for her 🙂
Wow…all the photos are really awesome!!
Loved this. It’s always great to see a collaborative effort that really works.
What a great idea and how much fun would this be – what a fabulous event to witness! 🙂
These are wonderful – it’s always great to see people’s ingenuity! I like the mermaid.
What a great idea – love them all. Great community spirit
I love these! Some of the villagers have a great sense of humour! My favourite one is the first one I think.
That’s totally awesome!
Scary, but big fun, Ailsa. I love your assembly of scare crows, witches, pumpkins and aliens! 😉
These are fabulous! I wish we had halloween scarecrows here in South Africa!
NOVEMBER 6,2015 LOTS OF WONDERFUL SELECTION OF PHOTO’S FROM ALL OUR WONDERFUL GROUP TODAY THANK YOU