During the month of October, Cambria was filled with scarecrows for the 15th Annual Cambria Scarecrow Festival. It did what it was supposed to — bring smiles to the faces of those visiting from near and far. But it's not just about the spooky fun, it's also a major contributor to the local economy.
"It brings lots and lots of people who might not ordinarily be coming to Cambria," said Lorienne Schwenk, Cambria Chamber of Commerce Director.
Prior to the Cambria Scarecrow Festival's inception 15 years ago, the president of the festival, Paulla Ufferheide, says October was one of the slower months of the year. Now, it's flourishing.
"After Labor Day, things just cooled way down until after Christmas. It wasn't until February that people started to come back to Cambria,” Ufferheide said. “Since the Cambria Scarecrow Festival started to be in its glory and really attracting tourism, it's now one of the best months for merchants here in Cambria."
Bed tax occupancy in the month of October year over year was up 4%, a respectable jump from a solid economic year in 2022.
"It increases foot traffic in the shops. I know for the Chamber, we had close to 700 people walk in our door during October. It's our highest month of the year for foot traffic,” Schwenk said. “People ask about the festival and ask about other things to do while they were here, so it's terrific for that."
"Our reach on Facebook alone jumped up to over 120,000. That's more than double from last year," said Kim Miller, the social media coordinator for the Cambria Scarecrow Festival.
Of the thousands who came to see the scarecrows, over 1,000 people filled out a survey on the festival, and nearly 2/3 of them said they live outside of San Luis Obispo County and stayed at a lodging facility in the Cambria area, living in 38 of the state's 58 counties.
"We've had young people, families, so many children, so many folks from all over the state and outside of the state who come to see this," Schwenk said.
Cambria has a couple of major festivals coming up in the next few months. Click here for more information on the film festival in February. Click here for more information on the art and wine festival in January.
