There have been exciting scenes this week in Durrow, Co. Laois where the annual All-Ireland Scarecrow Festival has kicked off.
The festival, which has had over 110 entries this year, is now in its seventh year.
The scarecrow entries, which range from Pirates of the Carrot-bean to Donald Trump, are on display on roundabouts, footpaths and green areas throughout the town.
Needle in a Haystack: The festival, which attracts 19,000 people, is a huge economic benefit to the Durrow community. (Source: Emer O'Brien)Speaking on behalf of the festival, Emer O'Brien said, "There have always been festivals in Durrow going back as far as the 1950s. Durrow is a Georgian town with a large village green which is perfect to have different events.
"The idea of the scarecrow festival came from a committee member who was on holidays in Wales and saw a scarecrow festival there, we ran the scarecrow competition as part of the original festival and on a survey after same we asked what people remembered about the event and over 95 per cent said it was the scarecrows, hence the Durrow Scarecrow Festival began."
Running for nine days, the festival is expected to draw in thousands of people to the small community, which, O'Brien says, is a huge benefit to the community.
"The festival attracts over 19,000 visitors into our small community of 1000 - which is of huge economic benefit to our town as Durrow was bypassed by the M8 motorway in 2010.
The winner of the All Ireland Scarecrow competition this coming Sunday, July 31st. In the meantime, click through our gallery below to see the ex-straw-
In the meantime, check out the gallery below to see the inspired entries...
