The town of Hartwell, a Main Street Accredited City, will host its 12th annual Scarecrow Contest starting on September 24th this year. Everyone is encouraged to participate in this fun event that pits local businesses and organizations against each other in a battle for the best scarecrow idea. Everyone is encouraged to participate and bring their most creative ideas to build a scarecrow that really impresses. For businesses, building a scarecrow is a great way to feature unique aspects of their services or make something fun and interactive for local visitors.

Hartwell Scarecrow Contest

You can tour the scarecrows located around the square in downtown Hartwell and look for them outside of businesses around town. All scarecrows are handmade with a unique theme that represents the business or organization that built it.

A contest wouldn’t be a contest without a prize, and this year, the best scarecrow award will receive a nice chunk of change. The prize for first place is $500 with second and third place winning $300 and $200 respectively. An additional $100 award is given to the scarecrow winning the People’s Choice recognition.

How To Vote For Your Favorite Scarecrow

Nominations for first, second, and third place will be appointed by a special committee of outside guests, but you can cast your vote for People’s Choice favorite scarecrow by picking up an official ballot in the Hartwell Sun and placing it in one of the voting boxes around the Hartwell square.

There’s no entry fee for this contest, but in order to be judged and win the prize money, each participant needs to submit an entry form and purchase a participation sign. Signs cost $20 to be made but can be reused from year to year. Download the entry form here.

Tour other local scarecrow contests

The scarecrow contest is not unique to Hartwell. Other towns like Toccoa, Ga and Anderson, SC have also held scarecrow contests in the fall. We will update this blog when they are announced.

Have you seen the small town scarecrow invasion?

Tell us about your favorite scarecrow in the comments below!