The Annual Scarecrow Festival in Barton Mills Suffolk, England Attracts Thousands

Barton Mills is a sleepy little village in north-west Suffolk, England, that does not see much activity through the year until July when the village comes alive and is overcome with straw when the Scarecrow Festival takes place!

The first Scarecrow Festival in Barton Mills took place in 1998. It proved so popular that it grew very quickly, attracting thousands of people to the village over the course of the festival. In 1999, Barton Mills was put on the map when it boasted a total of 761 scarecrows! That helped put Barton Mills in the Guinness Book of World Records.

If you think you have seen a scarecrow, then think again. Barton Mills does not boast the type of scarecrows that were once in common use to scare off birds from the fields. Rather than a scarecrow stuck in a field, the Barton Mills Scarecrow Festival will bring an era to life.

Villagers take the Scarecrow Festival very seriously and spend a lot of time making their scarecrows as lifelike and as realistic as possible. Rather than seeing lots of straw as you walk by people's homes, you will be more likely to see a man's suit turned into an outfit for a scarecrow and a woman dressed up for a night on the town.

Each year, there is a theme for the Scarecrow Festival. In 2002, Barton Mills was strewn with Union Jacks and the village took on a decidedly patriotic air as the theme revolved around the Royal Family. Villagers had royal figures out on display on their front lawns. Walking past one house, there were two very lifelike scarecrows of HM Queen Elizabeth II along with her son the Prince of Wales. There was no mistaking who they were meant to be. Further down the street, there were other scarecrows of the Queen sitting smiling at visitors. The Queen did not invite anyone to join her for tea though!

In 2004 the Olympics came to Barton Mills! The two famous welcoming bundles of straw that can be seen from the A11 approaching Barton Mills were adorned with Olympic "crowns" to mark the Olympic Games. There was even the depiction of a chariot race all made from straw.