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SCARECROW fever spread across the kingdom once again in an annual display of ingenuity which this year attracted 45 entries and an audience of more than 300 supporters.
The Scarecrow Trail has now been staged for a seventh year at the Rainbow for Kids nursery with children, families and groups of artists transforming pieces of straw into decorative displays.
Scarecrows – which originated in the Arab world – are put on display and judged at the centre’s play area in Muharraq.
Nursery principal Christine Hasan said: “The Scarecrow Trail started small with just half a dozen scarecrows made in class and the event has grown and grown each year.
“The idea for this particular event came from a few of our children being scared of costumes and certain characters. So, to counteract this, we got them to make scarecrows and realise that they are just silly things that can’t really harm them and are actually quite amusing.
“This year we attracted so many entries, each one completely different in concept and execution, plus there were two different kinds - the group scarecrows, created by groups of friends or the children in class with their teachers, and the individual and family entries.”
Celebrity judges - actor Ahmed Mubarrak, media personality Fayez Al Sada, professional make-up artist Seddiqa Alansari and blogger Shereen Rafie - stepped forward to mark the entries and one long-distance judge based in the UK was placed on standby in case of a tie but was thankfully not needed.
A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin in the shape of a human, usually dressed in old clothes and decorated with items to exaggerate the appearance. They are usually placed in open fields to discourage birds such as crows (hence the very literal name) or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.
They have been in use for more than 3,000 years, with the first recorded scarecrows used along the banks of the Nile in Ancient Egypt to protect wheat fields. In modern times, they are still in use despite vast advances in technology.
They have even become cultural figures, with numerous festivals taking place worldwide and characters such as British TV icon Worzel Gummidge and the popular Batman comic book villain simply called, The Scarecrow.
First place went to Mohammed Jalil who won BD150. Isa Ali was judged second and took a BD100 prize and Fahad Al Ahmadi picked up BD50 for coming third.
A quiz competition was also staged for guests. Visitors had to guess the answers to questions about the scarecrows, which kept them very busy and encouraged them to explore the entire trail. There were three BD10 book token prizes from Barnes Noble and countless mini-prizes including toy cars and puzzles for the youngest visitors.
“We had hundreds of visitors during the course of the morning,” added Christine. “People came for a quick look and stayed for more than an hour or more. I think that people were blown away by the entries and, of course, there were a lot of divided opinions on what constituted a winner.
“This was our best Scarecrow Trail yet and a couple of the entrants are already thinking about what they want to do next year.”
