Autumn

Scarecrows Deliver Seasonal Cheer to a Central Coast Town

Sweet 'n spooky figures will pop up in front of Cambria's businesses and homes to lend fun, fall spirit, and photo opportunities aplenty.

Cambria Scarecrow Festival

What to Know

  • Cambria Scarecrow Festival
  • Free to see; the "Salute to Scarecrows" fundraiser on Oct. 30 is $40
  • Oct. 1-31, 2021

SPYING A RAKISH SCARECROW, the sort of stylish and jaunty figure that is rocking a bright jacket, huge hat, and colorful trousers? It is an autumn-sweet sight, the sort of encounter that can rival seeing the first pumpkin of September, or a crimson maple tree, in the "iconic symbols of fall" department. And yet? You may not be able to approach the scarecrow, if he is located in the middle of a field or on the far side of a ranch or farm fence. So the photo you snap? The main subject is often but a tiny blur in the middle of your snapshot. There is a place, though, where you can get close to the scarecrows, should you want to admire their swanky threads, their fabulous faces, or the overall craftsmanship that goes into creating these seasonal works of art.

IT'S CAMBRIA, one of the jewels of the Central Coast, a hamlet known for its surfside beauty, lovely trees, and quaint Christmastime night market. It's a spot that is also celebrated for its quirky and numerous scarecrows each fall, adorable representatives of the season that show up all over the village. They're all part of the annual Cambria Scarecrow Festival, one of the best-known scarecrow celebrations in the country, and you can stop by and see these whimsical works on any day in October. For the whole sweet shebang gets "crowing" on Oct. 1, with a final wrap on Halloween.

SEEING THE SCARECROWS... is free, but you may want to join the Salute to Scarecrows: A Starlit Evening of Food and Wine on Oct. 30. A ticket is $40, and the funds raised go back into the yearly staging of this oh-so-cheerful display. Something playful to ponder? The figures that have become synonymous with fall in Cambria aren't solely the traditional scarecrows you might see out on a farm; dragons, witches, and all sorts of wild and wonderful characters dot the city streets, business windows, and front yards. For more on this autumntime exercise in ultra-cute creativity, call upon the festival's HQ now.

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