THE CHAIRMAN of the Belbroughton Scarecrow Festival has praised the volunteers, villagers and visitors for their tenacity after this year’s event was disrupted by the heavy rain which fell over the weekend.
Patrick Browne said: “The weather was truly awful and the way the situation was dealt with was exceptional.
“It’s that British spirit that you can’t take away from us.
“The volunteers worked extremely hard to ensure the event could continue, including the 25 air cadets from 156 (Kidderminster) Squadron ATC who were an absolute credit.”
The deluge fell during Saturday which led to problems with the car parking which is on farmers’ fields. From about 3pm vehicles were getting stuck and it needed tractors pulling and volunteers and visitors pushing to get some of them out of the mud.
The rain continued to fall overnight and meant on Sunday the decision was taken to close all the car parks for safety reasons. A new car park was then found around midday and the event was able to continue.
Mr Browne said it was unfortunate the event could not take place the weekend before – the same one it had been on for the past 22 years – because of Velo Birmingham but he did not blame that for the problems encountered.
“It was that the weather was just so bad.”
The chairman also addressed criticism on social media about the cost of the festival going up from £10 last year to £15 this time around.
“It has been £10 for the last few years now and our event costs have been going up – we have to pay for security, live entertainment for the two days, including live bands and the air show – and the traffic management which is the most expensive cost.
“Also when you compare it to other events locally and what you get for your money it is quite good value.”
He added people also had to remember that the event was not ran by a profit-making company where shareholders were going to get big payouts.
“Any cash made goes to the village, charities and other good causes, although those profits are going to be well down – less than 75 per cent of what we usually get.”
This year’s event was themed on Fables and Fairytales and also featured children’s rides, live entertainment and the dramatic air display by Rich Goodwin, as well as the scarecrows.
Of the scarecrows entered into the design competition, The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Crow-stian Anderson won Best Overall Scarecrow.
The Straw-cerer’s Apprentice, complete with working waterfall, was awarded ‘Best Inerpretation of the Theme’ while ‘Mirror Mirror’ took the title of Best Original Scarecrow.
The Straw-toise and the Hare was awarded the Best Technical / Creative Merit accolade and the Best Pun went to ‘Aesop’s Bagels’.
The event had more entries than ever before from outside the village and the ‘Best Out of Town Scarecrow’ was awarded to Fairfield First School for the Pied Piper of Hamlin.
