Hundreds of scarecrows invade SLO County for annual festival. See the photos

Every October since 2009, Cambria has been the Central Coast’s whimsy capital.

That’s when Taylor and Joseph Hilden of Cambria launched the first Cambria Scarecrow Festival with 30 sculptures of scarecrows and related critters.

By this year’s Oct. 1 unveiling, the festival group and its partners had sprinkled nearly 200 of the imaginative creations throughout the commercial districts of the North Coast, according to information provided by festival President Patty Wallace Rixman.

Some are clustered together in more expansive displays of up to 31 sculptures.

The fest is now a nationally lauded and applauded event. It’s shepherded its eponymous nonprofit organization and the year-round efforts of inventive volunteers, participating businesses and partners.

In 2022, USA Today declared Cambria’s fest to be one of the 10 best fall events in the United States. Other media rave reviews have been in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, ABC News and Huffington Post, and on The Travel Channel.

Scarecrows and crows are on display across the North Coast

Some of the larger gatherings this year have interactive elements, like the take-a-photo board at the transportation/big-crow spread along Cambria Drive and the “Fun ‘n’ Games” seasonal playground near the Old Cambria Market Shell station.

Among the amusements in the latter display are potato-sack races, hopscotch, ziplining, kite flying, Twister, teeter-totter and a hula-hoop maze.

Another large scarecrow display is “Fantastical Cove” at the north end of Castillo Drive in San Simeon.

The assortment of 31 sculptures range from gnomes, fairies, mushrooms and a life-sized unicorn to the spread-out “Happi-Ness Monster” that surrounds the group. She reveals herself in various segments (including a head supported by a skinny 8-foot-tall neck).

Nearly a dozen scarecrows are mounted in front of San Simeon businesses, Cavalier Plaza and the Friends of the Elephant Seal office there.

More may be coming to the North Coast throughout the festival. Businesses and other entities can continue adding to the array throughout the month, according to Kim Miller, social media coordinator.

Festival events are different this year

The festival won’t include a fundraiser community party this year, but is instead raising money to help support the year-long efforts with a popup store selling event t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, caps and stickers, Miller told The Tribune.

During normal open hours at Cambria Center for the Arts through Oct. 30, selected archival photos of the festival and its scarecrows will be on display at the Center, 1350 Main St. A limited number of other prints and merchandise will be available for sale.

An artists’ reception for “Scarecrows in Focus — a photographic retrospective” will be held Saturday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Center honoring the five photographers who have been primarily responsible for the official festival photos.

Who’s the Cambria Scarecrow Festival for?

So who is the festival for? Anybody.

Unlike many adult-oriented Octoberfest celebrations, the Scarecrow Festival is slanted toward all: the young, young at heart and those who love to surround themselves with fun for free.

Puns abound, especially in the scarecrow names — be sure to get out of your vehicle to check them out.

Some monikers are obvious, like Pari Medic at the Cambria Community Healthcare District office, Tailor Swiftie at Cambria Mimosas and Sunny & Sher at the Cambria Center for the Arts.

Others are obscure enough so it helps to say the names out loud such as Eye-Lean and Eye-Ris in the Cambria Drive display, Dom A Know at Best Kept Secret and Belle E Laff at Cambria Bead and Apothecary

Furthering the festival’s sustainability goals this year, the sponsoring group redid or reused many of the 167 offerings. Others were created afresh from scratch.

The festival’s displays prompt a flood of well-earned adjectives: artistic, spooky, funny, nostalgic, quirky, scary, stunning or just plain weird. They’re on display throughout October in Cambria and San Simeon.

More than 60 of the sculptures are showcased in front of local businesses that donated to the festival, in effect renting the ‘crows from that sponsoring group. The festival maintains a large collection of them from year to year.

Those businesses stretch along Cambria’s east and west village areas, Moonstone Beach Drive and in San Simeon.

Another 15 festival-owned sculptures are in public areas and at intersections, Rixman said.

Additionally, more than two dozen local businesses created or commissioned independently their own scarecrows.

Some scarecrows reflect the adjacent businesses, such as the Bone Dracula skeleton in front of Cambria Physical Therapy, the aforementioned Pari Medic, Bronco-bustin’ Bob echoing the cowboy history of Mozzi’s bar; and Flossie Ann Brush in front of Cambria Smiles.

One perennial entry is the beloved, horizontal “Blowin,’” a tenacious chap who is still determined to maintain his windswept hold on the pole. It’s near the intersection of Highway 1 and Cambria Drive.

Local children partnered with the festival and Cambria Center for the Arts Youth Program to create a canine-centric display at 1350 Main St., in front of the center. Each pup was decorated by one of 16 local youngsters.

That exhibit was conceived to involve the young artists while highlighting Cambria’s dog-friendly attitude.

The children’s enthusiasm provides a lighthearted dose of quirkiness and may be the best indicator yet that Cambria’s whimsy festival has a bright future ahead.

Learn more about the scarecrow fest

For details, including a map of scarecrow locations, call 805-203-0743 or go to the festival website. Also check the Cambria Scarecrows Facebook page, Vimeo or Instagram.

Please drive carefully and with consideration for others, some of whom may be on their way to work or appointments.

Don’t slow traffic to a crawl, park to take photos or see more, and please don’t stop in the middle of the street — no matter how enticing the view may be.

This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM.

Kathe Tanner

The Tribune

805-781-7904 (voicemails only)

Kathe Tanner has been writing about the people and places of SLO County’s North Coast since 1981, first as a columnist and then also as a reporter. Her career has included stints as a bakery owner, public relations director, radio host, trail guide and jewelry designer. She has been a resident of Cambria for more than four decades, and if it’s happening in town, Kathe knows about it.