In pictures: Winners at Foxton Scarecrow Festival decided by straw poll

Where could you see Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Dobby from the Harry Potter films in the same place? At the movie-themed Foxton Scarecrow Festival, of course.

Taking place in the village on Saturday (October 7), the biennial event drew plenty of visitors, as Chloe Watkis, a member of the scarecrow committee, explains: “It was brilliant – it was better than we could have predicted.

“We had about 40 scarecrows. The village was completely packed with people, there were loads of activities, it was great… and we raised about £2,800 – split between the church, the school and the pre-school. We sold a lot of cake and a lot of bacon butties...”

Chloe explained that the public votes – a straw poll, if you like – for the best scarecrow, rather than a panel of judges, and this year’s joint winners were a 7ft-tall Buzz Lightyear and a Dobby, made out of hessian.

Other scarecrows included Hey Duggee, Lady and the Tramp, Jaws, Mario and Luigi, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, members of The Avengers, and an “incredibly beautiful” Paddington.

Chloe stressed that “more effort than you could imagine” went into making the scarecrows.

“The lady who made the Lady and the Tramp is a friend of mine,” she said “and I know that for about two weeks leading up to it, she was doing papier mache every night to make the shell of her scarecrow.”

Chloe said she and the other organisers were “blown away” by how well it went.

“We’re so happy that people came and enjoyed it and it was such a success,” she added, “and obviously the big thing is that we raised the money for the village organisations, and I think the church, the school and the preschool are going to really benefit from having that bit of an injection of cash into what they can now do for this year.”

[Read more: In pictures: ‘Hilarious’ Cambridgeshire scarecrow festival shows real imagination]

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