It鈥檚 been a decade since Art鈥檚 Nursery hosted its first 鈥淪carecrow Stroll.鈥�

The annual scarecrow festival returned Sept. 21 for its 10th annual incarnation, which runs until Halloween. The annual "Stroll" raises money for charity.

John Cowie, retail manager for Art鈥檚 Nursery, was on hand for the opening day of the festival. He said the beginning of the day had been 鈥渇antastic鈥� and there were a lot of people in the gates.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had lots of families coming through and they seemed to be enjoying themselves and having a great time,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have, of course, the scarecrows. We have a pop-up pumpkin patch. There are games. Food trucks on the weekend. Live music every weekend.鈥�

Cowie said there are more than 60 scarecrows on site. The scarecrows represent characters from cartoons and film and famous musicians.

As the Scarecrow Stroll is a charity event, each scarecrow is sponsored by a local business and they are set up at various locations all over Art鈥檚 property.

Art鈥檚 is supporting five charities through this year鈥檚 Stroll: Inclusion Langley Society, Metro Vancouver Regional Parks Foundation, OWL - Orphaned Wildlife Rescue, the 性视界传媒 Food Bank, and the Langley Food Bank.

People coming to Art鈥檚 can donate cash or bring non-perishable food items, if they wish to support the charities. He added all proceeds from the festival will go to support the five charities as well.

Members of Orphaned Wildlife Rescue were on hand Sept. 21 with an owl and a peregrine falcon. The falcon, Chrissy, was found in Vancouver in 2022 after she hit a building and lost the tip of her right wing.

Orphaned Wildlife Rescue is a non-profit that rescues, rehabilitates, and releases injured and orphaned raptors back into the wild (if they are able to be released). They also dedicate part of their time to educating the public, hence why they were out at Art鈥檚 giving out info and telling stories about their 鈥渂ird ambassadors.鈥�

Cowie said Orphaned Wildlife Rescue will be back again Oct. 27 with more birds to help educate the public about wildlife conservation.

鈥淭he festival is just a great way to say thank you to our customers for a great year,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd also to give back to the community.鈥�

As part of this year鈥檚 event, Art鈥檚 is also hosting an 鈥淯pcycle Challenge鈥� where they challenge local high schools to build scarecrows entirely from recycled materials. Visitors can also join in the 鈥淪carecrow Scavenger Hunt鈥� while strolling around the grounds.

Art鈥檚 will have kits available for purchase if families wish to go home and make their own scarecrows to decorate their houses or yards.

The live music and food trucks will be on site each weekend during the festival鈥攁nd all holiday Mondays.

Art鈥檚 Scarecrow Stroll is open Thursday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday to Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Art鈥檚 is located at 8940 192nd Street. Food trucks and live music will run on weekends during the Scarecrow Stroll, with the last dates being Oct. 26 and 27. The festival runs until Oct. 31.

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