A SCARECROW festival will be among the new additions to this year’s Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations.
Families, schools and businesses are being urged to create a Shakespeare or other literary-inspired scarecrow from recycled material.
The festival, run by health and wellbeing charity Escape Arts and supported by Stratford Town Trust, will be held in Bancroft Gardens during the birthday event on Saturday and Sunday April 27 and 28.
Artistic director Karen Williams said: “This is the first ever community scarecrow festival to take place in Stratford so it’s great that we were able to have this coincide with the biggest celebration of the year for the town which draws tourists from around the world to visit.
“The theme for this first competition had to be books and plays to help celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday so competition entries can be inspired by your favourite book characters or Shakespearian idols.
“Ideally, characters will be made out of recycled materials, with more points awarded for the most inventive uses and the most complex designs.”
The festival will be among a host of activities from the returning National Living Statue Competition to the traditional parade and flag unfurling ceremony.
Judging will take place on Sunday at 4pm, with a chance to win £100 cash prize.
Visit www.escapearts.org.uk/about/whats-on for more information.
Stratford Town Trust is offering £100 grants to help local community groups create their scarecrows. Visit www.stratfordtowntrust.co.uk for more details. The closing date for applications is April 11.
