Scarecrows to take up watch at Flying Brick orchards

THE Great Australian Scarecrow Competition will return to Flying Brick Cider House for its seventh year, again transforming the venue’s Bellarine Highway border into a colourful outdoor display.

Open to people of all ages, the competition invites the community to bring together their skill, creative flair and craftsmanship to create imaginative scarecrows that will both keep the birds away from the cider house’s orchard and entertain visitors and passing motorists.

Competition coordinator, Emily Lyons, said the idea for the competition began as a practical response to orchard life before evolving into a creative community event.

“We have lots of amazing, juicy apples and pears, and we need to protect those apples and pears from pesky crows that are out and about around the orchards – and scarecrows are a fantastic way to do that.

Entries will be installed along the border of the cider house, visible to passing traffic and visitors to the venue, through January and February.

Ms Lyons said there were few creative restrictions aside from size requirements – each scarecrow is allocated a 2m by 1.5m space – and a ban on commercial branding.

“The sky is the limit.

“As long as people have imagination and they want to get creative, then there’s nothing holding them back from entering.

“We encourage as many people to participate as possible… It’s an opportunity to just go for it and have some fun.”

Entries will be judged on their creativity, craftsmanship and name, with Ms Lyons encouraging participants not to overlook the final element.

“A lot of people don’t appreciate how important the name is of the scarecrow,” she said.

“[Participants] need to bring their creativity and they need to bring their imagination to coming up with the name of the scarecrow because that really is the thing that completes the picture.”

Prizes include $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second and $500 for third, along with dining vouchers and early-bird prizes for the first six installations.

Ms Lyons said the prize pool made the competition particularly appealing for schools, sporting clubs and community groups.

“These are things that could make incredible changes to a local sporting team’s clubroom, play equipment for a school or art supplies for a community group,” she said.

Winners will be announced on Australian Cider Day on March 7.