Web Extra Article - Travel

Scarecrow Festival is a Mahone Bay highlight

By Carolyn Hall

A short trip from Halifax along the Lighthouse Route on Nova Scotia’s South Shore gets you to Mahone Bay.

This picturesque little town, between Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg, features centuries-old houses and buildings, many dating back to the 1750s. Postcards and artwork feature the famous three churches on its waterfront.

While art studios, artisan shops, eclectic boutiques, restaurants and cafés attract many tourists, another draw is the annual Scarecrow Festival, now in its fifteenth year.

The scarecrows are not your stereotypical Wizard of Oz scarecrow - no straw-stuffed heads and droopy clothing hanging from wooden stakes. These scarecrows are creative works of art, many with hand-painted faces of celebrities, politicians and cartoon characters, dressed in realistically tailored fabric costumes.

During the festival, held near the end of September, businesses and professionals decorate their storefronts and offices with appropriate scarecrow characters.

Individuals also exhibit scarecrows on their verandahs, staircases and front yards. Many of the figures are based on folk legends and crafted with a touch of mischief, magic and mystery.

During this year’s festival one of visitors’ first encounters was with the scarecrow client hanging in traction outside a physiotherapy clinic. Seated on a bench in front of a downtown wool shop, Have a Yarn, was a knitter with her multi-coloured balls of yarn and a black-faced ewe knitting a sweater.

The Bank of Montreal features scarecrow bandits dressed in black robbing a safe, while bags of money dot the lawn. Bayside Pizza and Donair presents Giuseppi holding a fully-loaded pizza.

The dental surgeon’s scarecrows have a masked Dr. Ernst posing beside a patient sitting on a lawn chair, while on Pleasant Street, the Mahone Bay Bed and Breakfast shows two well-dressed customers having high tea in the garden.

This year’s event also had a royal twist, with the entire royal wedding party of Kate and William depicted in the front yard of a typical well-maintained Maritimes home. Showing an East Coast sense of humour, Prince Harry’s hand is mischievously placed on Pippa’s backside! Not to be outdone, politicans also vied for attention. There were scarecrow images of Stephen Harper, Elizabeth May, Jack Layton (with his farewell letter to Canadians), and Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, along with a host of celebrities including Stevie Wonder at a baby grand piano.

Townsfolk were also exhibited at Suttles and Seawinds quilting store, where a duo of senior quilter scarecrows sat at a colourful patchwork quilt engaged in quilting a bee. Throughout the countryside heading towards Lunenburg, other folks also displayed a variety of scarecrows, entertaining both tourists and locals.

Additional activities associated with the Scarecrow Festival are pumpkin carvings (especially alluring when lit up at night), an antique fair, graveyard tours, storytelling and lots of music.

Travellers wishing to take in the event next year can find more information online at www.mahonebay.com/vacation-and-visitors-guide/calendar-of-events/scarecrow-festival.