Llysfaen: The Welsh neighbours whose pandemic scarecrows turned into an annual festival

  • ITV Wales reporter Rob Shelley went along to Llysfaen to meet the people behind the village's annual scarecrow festival

Two Welsh women who kept scarecrows outside their homes during the pandemic to "make people laugh" have now created an annual scarecrow festival.

Popularly known as the "Scarecrow ladies", Louise Henson, 56, and Lizzy Heritage, 49, have held their annual scarecrow festival in their Welsh village of Llysfaen over the last week.

This idea came into existence during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, when Ms Heritage alongside Ms Henson, and their neighbours, decided to place scarecrows outside their houses to put a smile on people's faces.

There have been a series of scarecrow-related events in the village, which has become something of a tourist attraction.

Ms. Heritage, who is originally from England, said: “We’ve found that there are lonely people in our community, and I think we’ve managed to help them and give them a bit of a sense of purpose.

“The feeling people have now goes 40 or 50 years back, where people didn’t have social media and they got out to talk to their neighbours.

“It’s actually brought the community together through laughter and giggles.

“We have people say that it actually makes them come out of the house to see the scarecrows and everybody has become proud of their village."

In October 2020, the news about scarecrows was all over the social media. Recalling the incident Ms Henson added: “Before we knew it, it was like the M6 down here.”

Since then, there have been a series of scarecrow-related events in the village, which has become something of a tourist attraction.

The scarecrow festival this year is running from July 8 to 16, and has seen 85 entries for the competition.

The winner gets a box of beer from the local brewery, and is greeted with ten tractors driving to the winner’s house to present the prize. The money raised from these events goes back into the community cafe, school and local youth club.

Some figures from this year’s scarecrow festival include King Charles and Queen Camilla, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, Mary Poppins, Vincent van Gogh and many others.

This year, the scarecrow festival is running from July 8 to 16, and has seen 85 entries for the competition.

Last year’s Halloween scare-fest, which was held at Ms Heritage’s five-acre property, saw 900 people in attendance and raised £3,000 for the village.

Ms Henson noted that the events have also helped herself and Ms Heritage to become a part of the with the community.

“We’re very integrated in the community now, just from scarecrows, and I think we’re putting on 11 events this year.”

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