Fall season is here, and the Santa Ynez Valley is getting ready to celebrate the 8th annual Scarecrow Festival and Contest.
The month-long contest kicked off Oct. 1 and runs until Oct. 31.
Businesses, residents and school organizations are encouraged to craft their own scarecrows for the competition.
The public is encouraged to vote for the best scarecrow in the field, then the best scarecrows in each town will then compete head-to-head for the 2020 Harvest Cup, best in the valley trophy.
Several towns in the Santa Ynez Valley are encouraged to participate including the towns of Ballard, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Solvang and Buellton.
The original contest was created to drive consumer traffic to each of the participating businesses, now it also helps the town get ready for fall.
"We love to participate in anything Solvang has to offer for both locals and tourists, so we think this is a pretty safe activity for people to do during the COVID crisis so were happy to be apart of it" Solvang Spice Merchant Owner, Joy Culley said.
