The Twin Towns are celebrating Hallowe’en with a huge, socially distant, Scarecrow Festival! Ballybofey and Stranorlar Chamber of Commerce’s annual Trick r’ Treat Festival had to be postponed this year due to Covid 19 restrictions, so they invited the whole community to take part in something a little different.
See just some of our Scarecrows here.
Leah Fairman of The Chamber said ‘We were feeling quite down in the Chamber offices a few weeks ago because we knew we wouldn’t be able to run our annual Trick ‘r Treat. It is normally a huge fun-filled event for the whole community. Then we had the idea of running a Scarecrow Festival and we thought it would be a small way to keep the fun alive. We had no idea how amazing everyone would be!”
There have been over 100 entries to the Festival, and nearly 200 scarecrows on display around the towns. Pauline McDaid, who has been co-ordinating the event, is delighted with the engagement from businesses and the community. “We’ve been bowled over by the number of entries, the creativity and the support and enthusiasm everyone has given to the Festival. From kids of 3 to grandparents of 93. Real life scarecrows, scary scarecrows, superhero scarecrows and cheeky scarecrows. Everyone has been involved – businesses, schools, families, care facilities, community and sports groups.”
For the past ten years the Hallowe’en Trick or Treat has been a huge event in the Twin Towns. Did you know it was the first ever place in Ireland to invite children onto it’s streets to Trick r Treat? Last year it was estimated over 2000 people, young and old, dressed up and took part.
Charlie Ferry, Chairperson of the Chamber, is delighted with the response and believes it shows how important supporting our towns are to the whole community. He would like to remind everyone to shop local in the run up to Christmas. “More than ever we need to pull together, and the Twin Towns has shown with this Festival just how much community, family and supporting each other means to them. There will be many challenging days ahead, but we can get through this, together.”
There is still time to take part in the Scarecrow Festival! The event is running for the rest of the week. Just get decorate your scarecrow and email the photo to leah@bandschamber.com. On social media use the hashtag #scarecrowfestival
Covid 19 event compliance
The Chamber would like to remind everyone to stay safe and keep your distance this Hallowe’en. We are delighted that so many families are having fun taking part and making their scarecrow. We would ask that people do not travel to the towns to physically see the scarecrows. Follow the fun on our Facebook page @ballybofeyandstranorlarchamberofcommerce. And check our website next week where we will have everyone’s scarecrows on view. www.ballybofeystranorlar.com
Get in touch by calling us on 074 91 90909 or email us on leah@bandschamber.com
Our Facebook page is @BallybofeyandStranorlarChamberofCommerce
