~ 17th Annual Festival of Scarecrows ~

ARVADA, CO — On Saturday, October 12, Olde Town Arvada will be transformed with scarecrows of all shapes and sizes. This free event will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and include activities for all ages and interests!

We want you to wander through Olde Town and cast your vote for your favorite Scarecrow between 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. while visiting over 40 community booths. Prizes will be given in several categories. Businesses, individuals, schools or organizations can enter a decorated scarecrow into the contest with a $20 entry fee and completed application which can be easily found at www.historicarvada.org or by calling the Historic Olde Town Arvada at 303-420-6100.

Then for the second year, the Decorated Pumpkin Contest will return. Groups, businesses and individual contestants can add personality and flair to their pumpkin for a chance to win prizes in two categories (do not carve or puncture the pumpkin). There is no entry fee and the applications can be found at www.arvadafestivals.com.

Pumpkins will also be available for purchase at the Pumpkin Patch and all proceeds will benefit the Arvada Community Food Bank.

Along with many long-standing events at the Scarecrow Festival, four new activities are schedule for this year:

• Pumpkin seed spittinginto a bucket with three age categories and prizes
• Pumpkin pie eatingwith three categories and prizes
• Gunny sack and 3-legged raceswith three age categories
• Pumpkin dish cooking contest.Enter your favorite pumpkin dish (no pumpkin pies, please) and win a prize.

Gardeners Delight
Dedicated gardeners can bring in their largest pumpkins for the Giant Pumpkin Contest. Weigh-in begins at 1:30 p.m. Arvada Gardeners will also have gourds and corn stalks on sale to help celebrate and decorate for the holiday!

Kids Fun Zone
Parents, be sure to bring your kids in costume so they can take part in the Kids Costume Parade, which kicks off at 12:00 p.m. Brewster the Giant Green Dinosaur will lead little ghosts and goblins through Olde Town Square. Each participant receives a goodie bag!

Even the youngest kids can get in the action by wandering through a Cornstalk maze. Admission is free and canned food donations for the Arvada Community Food Bank are welcomed.

Additional children activities will include:

• Face painting
• Hayrides
• Alpaca Petting Zoo
• Games

This event is proudly brought to you by the following community sponsors: City of Arvada, Arvada Festivals Commission, Historic Olde Town Arvada, and Arvada Gardeners. For more information about the festival and for vendor and contest applications, visit www.arvadafestivals.com.