It’s a fright, but the Scarecrow Fest is axed!

A BIG hit on the West Cork festival calendar – the Leap Scarecrow Festival – will, regrettably, not be going ahead this year.

The event, which is normally held over a two-week period – one week before and one week after the Halloween weekend – is on hiatus until 2021.

Rita Ryan, chairperson of the festival, confirmed: ‘We have cancelled this year’s scarecrow festival due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘We have to protect our community and visitors alike, but we will be back next year with a bigger and better festival.’

Rita said she knows just how popular the festival is. Each year, it attracts thousands of visitors to the village. It is especially popular among young people, but that just made it a ‘must-see’ for families looking to enjoy a fun day out.

‘Since we started in 2014, the festival has not only attracted huge visitor numbers,’ Rita, said, ‘it also sparked the creativity and imagination of people of all ages who were keen to outdo one another for the best scarecrow prize.’

But with Covid-19 figures on the rise throughout Cork county, Rita said that, like everyone else, Leap must do what it can to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading in the community, and abide by the national health guidelines.