The Scarecrow Festival of Tetford and Salmonby

May 2004

Eight or nine miles outside Louth are the villages of Tetford and Salmonby. From the 1st to the 3rd of May 2004 they held their annual Scarecrow Festival. A good crowd turned out for this event, which is held to raise funds for the church of St Marys, as well as various other good causes.

The main attraction is the scarecrow trail. The images on this page don't do justice to the variety of scarecrows that had been produced. A lot of effort had clearly gone in, and villagers seem to have been vying to create the best or the wittiest scarecrows. Nearly every house had something, with characters from movies and television proving popular, as well as ones from more traditional tales such as Little Miss Muffet and St George and the dragon. The scarecrows varied in size from small to huge, such as an enormous Shrek outside one house, and whole families featured in some displays.

The trail is about a mile long, and the organisers thoughtfully provided a quiz and a spot-the-animal game to keep children amused. There were also stalls and refreshments in the large village hall. The Scarecrow Festival is very much a family event. Like many outdoor festivals the crowds and the cars churn up mud, and this was no exception, with the car park becoming especially bog-like.

If you missed the festival this year, look out for it next year. It's surprisingly good.

The 2006 Tetford and Salmonby Scarecrow Festival took place over the bank holiday weekend, from 29th April to 1st May.