Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival: Which one is your favourite?

This shows a Planet Earth themed display complete with TV, animals and scarecrow David Attenborough — Image caption,
The Planet Earth themed display must have taken a lot of effort

10 August 2026

These homemade scarecrows are on display as part of the Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival from 8-16 August 2026

The two week event is community-based and shows off the creativity of the people living in the Yorkshire Dales village.

The first Scarecrow Festival was held in 1994 as a fundraising event for Kettlewell Primary School.

We've put together a collection of some of our favourites, but leave us a comment to let us know which one you like best.

This display shows Wallace, Gromit and gnome Norbot standing in front of a garden shed and fence. — Image caption,
This display shows Wallace, Gromit and Norbot in a 'cracking' display

Models of SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick from the TV show are seen in front of a row of houses. — Image caption,
Maybe SpongeBob and Patrick have decided to trade the pineapple house under the sea for one in Kettlewell

An umpire scarecrow can be seen on a tall chair, with two ball boys and two tennis players on a fake grass pitch. There is a painted piece of wood behind showing spectators painted onto it. — Image caption,
This scene shows some very athletic tennis player scarecrows at a home-made Wimbledon

This display shows two scarecrows playing netball, while wearing GS and GK bibs. — Image caption,
This display could have been inspired by recent sporting events like the Commonwealth Games

Six scarecrows as seen in this display in front of a church. There is bunting hung over the road and three of the scarecrows are seen taking part in a sack race. The other three are watching on. — Image caption,
Does this scene remind you of your school sports day?

Three scarecrows are seen in front of a house. The house is decorated with bunting and a sign on the door which says "Arrivée" which means Arrived. One scarecrow is on a bike, while the others are seen cheering. — Image caption,
This scene shows the famous cycling race the Tour de France which took place in July

Those taking part bring the village to life with displays from sporting events like Wimbledon and the Tour de France, as well as TV shows like Wallace and Gromit, SpongeBob SquarePants and nature documentary Planet Earth.

Others have been inspired by Christmas with Father Christmas making an appearance, as well as Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Book characters like Mr Birthday from the Mr Men series, The Gruffalo, and Paddington Bear also showed up in some of the displays - as well as another mythical character Nessie, the Loch Ness monster.

Creators might also have based their creations on news stories, with one Nasa themed display, which could have come following the recent Artemis Moon mission.