'Such a shame': Disappointment as popular Belbroughton Scarecrow Festival cancelled this year

Belbroughton Scarecrow Festival, an annual, family-friendly event in the North Worcestershire village of Belbroughton, is cancelled this year.

First held in 1996, it has grown into one of the UK’s largest scarecrow festivals.

Taking place over a weekend, it sees residents place more than 100 imaginative, handmade scarecrows in scenes outside their homes.

The organisers of Belbroughton Scarecrow Festival posted on Facebook on Sunday 31 May announcing that the festival this year is cancelled due to a lack of volunteers.

The organisers explained that the festival had been started to to raise money for the facilities in the village and has become a “huge success”.

However, this year the organisers said that they haven’t had the number of volunteers they need in order for the event to take place.

An apology was issued to “people wanting to attend and traders wanting to be involved.”

The full statement reads: “The Scarecrow Festival started approximately 30 years ago to raise money for the facilities in the village.

“Since then it has become a huge success, raising 10s of thousands of pounds for good causes, such as the Church Hall, Rec, Cricket Club and local charities - helping secure the services that make Belbroughton such as fantastic place to live.

“However to achieve these aims it needs a large team of volunteers (everyone involved in running the Scarecrow Festival is a volunteer), and this year we just haven't had the numbers.

“Accordingly we have taken the rather sad and difficult decision not to go ahead this year. If you would like to be involved next year please let us know.

“It would be great to start forming the organising team now. Please check back early next year for any updates on next year. I am sorry to all the people wanting to attend and traders wanting to be involved.”

Many in the comments express their disappointment. One user wrote “such a shame”, while another said “sad news”.