Hundreds of scarecrows pop up in this SLO County town each year. Take a look at the creations
It could be challenging to keep a festival fresh and new for nearly 16 years — except for the free, month-long Scarecrow Festival that happens every October in Cambria and San Simeon, where creativity and whimsy run rampant.
Maybe that’s why USA Today declared the month-long Scarecrow Festival was one of the 10 best fall events in the United States.
“At the rate this festival is growing, someday, scarecrows could outnumber residents,” the article said tongue-in-cheek of the community of 6,000 residents.
Since the festival began in 2009, many other accolades have been heaped on the North Coast’s whimsical event by national and local media, including the Travel Channel.
Displays in 2021 and 2022 were limited because pandemic restrictions were designed to reduce crowds.
As of Sept. 24, nearly 220 scarecrows had already been registered for the 2024 festival, and more undoubtedly would be added, either officially or displayed independently, just for the fun of participating.
That’s what the event is all about, after all — having fun — from envisioning and making the scarecrows to walking through town seeing them all and enjoying the free show.
Registered sculptures will be included in the festival’s online list and map and in the public judging that will select the favorite for 2024.
The hundreds of scarecrows are scattered on sidewalks, fields, balconies, fences, roofs, trees and wherever else the organizers and supporters can stuff the whimsical creatures for the public to appreciate.
Some sing, pedal, dance, fly, swashbuckle or simply stand there and look amazing.
There’s no charge to see the show, but attendees are encouraged to park their vehicles and walk around to enjoy themselves (and thereby not bring to a standstill the busy flow of traffic on the towns’ two-lane business streets).
Festival organizers and artists are also dedicated recyclers. Each year, they take some scarecrows out of circulation and totally redo them, performing extreme plastic surgery.
For instance, how many people would look at a zombie sculpture and envision it redone as Mama Coco, a Pixar great-grandma?
Longtime festival board member Paulla Ufferheide cited that transformation as having been one of the most memorable.
Cambria’s Scarecrow Festival started on a whim
It all started in 2008, when Cambria residents Joseph and Taylor Hilden were vacationing in northeastern North America.
The lightbulb went on over Hilden’s head when they were in the tiny Nova Scotia town of Mahone Bay. That community’s scarecrow festival had ended, but some of the sculptures were still on display.
“Walking down Main Street in Mahone Bay, and seeing the scarecrow displays for the first time was a life-changing event for me,” Hilden said. “I was filled with such joy and happiness. I felt like a kid at Disneyland. It was truly magical.”
Hilden, always an enthusiastic, Energizer-Bunny-type person, told her husband her husband, “What a delightful idea! Why don’t we do this in Cambria?”
They could, and with the help of other enthusiasts, artisans and the Cambria Historical Society, they did.
Hilden is no longer directly involved with the festival, having passed the reins on to others, but her delight in and emotional ties to the event are still as strong as ever.
“It is that magic, that joy, that I wish for everyone who comes to the Cambria Scarecrow Festival,” she said. “The festival is fabulous family fun for all age groups. No tickets to buy, no time restrictions, so plan to spend the day.”
The veteran scarecrow festival fan also had some advice for festival goers.
“Prepare for lots of walking if you’re able to do that, and take tons of photos,” she said. “Wear comfortable shoes, bring a hat, an extra layer of clothes (because the coastal climate can be very changeable) and have a day like no other, full of smiles and surprises.”
“Whether it is your first or 16th Festival, park the car,” Hilden said. “Meet every creation up close and personal. Let the joy fill you up, then take it home with you and plan to come back next year for a refill.”
What scarecrows will be part of festival?
Among this year’s diverse individual scarecrows, vignettes and big displays are the Scarecrow Academy/Addams Family on the northeast side of San Simeon, five Encanto vignettes at Moonstone Beach Drive motels, a picnic for animals near the Santa Rosa Catholic Church on Main Street, aliens by the Cambria Center for the Arts on Main, the “Welcoming Crowmmittee” of traditional burlap scarecrows made primarily by many new volunteers at Cambria Drive and Highway 1 and adorable baby dragons created by Cambria school kids mounted along a mid-village bridge on Main.
“The Fun ‘n’ Games display inspired by Shelly Henderson, a new volunteer, brings out the child in all of us,” Scarecrow Festival President Patty Wallace Rixman said of the displays. “Many talented artists joined her vision with hopes of bringing smiles, chuckles and laughter to the festival.”
A few of the dozen or so new and old games profiled in the display include young and senior scarecrows enjoying Twister, hula hoops, hopscotch, a board game, teeter-totter, jacks and zip-lining from tree to tree.
Those scarecrows will be in a prime field location, an open lot between Once Upon a Tyme and the Shell station at the north end of Main Street.
Scarecrow celebration planned
Festivalgoers and fans will band together under the stars again from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 26, at the annual “Salute to Scarecrows” party at Cambria Nursery, 2801 Eton Road. There will be live music, raffles, a costume contest and lots of congratulations about the 2024 fest.
Limited tickets, available online until sold out, are $75 plus $7.18 in fees.
Funds raised by the festival also provide scholarships to students who plan to pursue careers in the arts and are poised to graduate from Cambria’s high schools.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
