Desford Scarecrow Festival
A Leicestershire village fills its gardens, drives and lamp posts with over a hundred themed scarecrows each August Bank Holiday, inviting visitors to walk the trail and vote for their favourite over three days.
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"A free and friendly folkie takeover of 13 atmospheric venues with Morris dancing, sing-arounds and an outdoor market stage across the old market town."
Melton Folk Festival
"The village of Heather, Kings Award winner, goes cheerfully insane each August as gardens fill with hundreds of scarecrows depicting celebrities and topical characters, all competing for votes from the crowds who walk the trail with a guide booklet."
Heather Scarecrow Festival
✦ Weird and Wonderful"The self styled Rural Capital of Food throws its October festival around the pork pie and the Stilton, with one of the largest gatherings of artisan cheesemakers in the country."
Melton Mowbray Food Festival
"A free Christmas Folk Trail strings live acoustic music through the pubs and tea rooms of a Leicestershire market town across a full December weekend."
Melton Winter Festival
"After a hare pie is scrambled, two villages battle to carry small barrels across streams in a no-rules contest."
Hallaton Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scramble
✦ Weird and Wonderful"A Midlands agricultural show with over a century of tradition, combining cattle, sheep, horse and show jumping competitions with a family entertainment programme at its rural Leicestershire ground."
Ashby Show
"A full week of Derbyshire village carnival life with well dressings, a flower festival, a scarecrow competition and then the spectacular Saturday parade of floats, fancy dress and Carnival Royalty through the village, followed by classic cars, alpacas and children's entertainment on the recreation ground."
Barlow Carnival
"The Staffordshire village of Pattingham mounts scarecrows through its streets and gardens for three late September days, running alongside fairground rides and food stalls at the village club in a festival that has quietly become one of the best attended scarecrow events in the Midlands."
Pattingham Scarecrow Festival
"This tiny Peak District village glows with one of the most famous festive light displays in the country as Santa parades in by tractor."
Castleton Christmas Lights Switch-On
"A revival of Spalding's tulip-country tradition dating to 1959, where volunteer-built floats covered in thousands of fresh tulip heads parade 2.94 miles through the town accompanied by marching bands and entertainers."
Spalding Flower Parade
"A volunteer-run village carnival revived in 2023 that draws over 1,000 people to Fisher Road for a grand procession, live music, and fairground rides celebrating community spirit."
Bishop's Itchington Carnival
"The Derbyshire village of Tansley on the edge of the Peak District invites its residents to place scarecrows in their gardens and on their lanes for a summer Sunday, turning a quiet village walk into a tour of local humour and ingenuity that draws visitors from across the county."
Tansley Village Scarecrows