Judges had such a hard task deciding the winners of the 2023 Mary Valley Scarecrow Festival that we ended up with a tie for grand champion ‘crow!

The Wild West Wedding (B3) by Michael Granger and the Spirit Guardian Crow by Jasmin Hartmann (C16) were the standout entries awarded equal status.

It has almost re-ignited rivalry and sparked a high noon gunfight between two of the Mary Valley villages, with Imbil’s wedding scene and Kandanga’s spirited entry pitted against each other in the Wild West themed event this year.

Traditional town winners: Kenilworth A2 The Chocolate Man by Waye Isbister and Markus Kuhn; Imbil B21 Buckin Bill by Imbil Camping Retreat; Kandanga C29 Fee Lee Wong AKA Wind Tone by Simone Cooper. Overall traditional winners: B21 Buckin Bill and C29 Fee Lee Wong AKA Wind Tone equal first.

Artistic town winners: Kenilworth A5 Cactus Jack by West “N Color; Imbil B25 The Mary Valley Rattler Snake by the Fitzgerald family; Kandanga C28 Djanga Da Gon by Darren Biar. Overall artistic winner: C28 Djanga Da Gon.

Child winners: Highly commended – C6 Faraway Family by Ashien Bieck-Holbut; B18 Breakneck Kid by Amanda Long; C11 JoJo Carter by Jocelyn and Carter Benjanin. Child winner: B23 Jail Break by the Cochrane Kids.

School winners: Highly commended – Amamoor State School Yeeha: The Big Chase; Kandanga State School Kevin on The Move; Gympie South State School Where’s Wally? Winner: Mary Valley State College The Three Amigos.

The annual festival is a popular Sunshine Coast event from September 11 – October 2, 2023. The Google map on our scarecrow festival page shows the locations of all scarecrows so you can take a day trip to go scarecrow spotting in the Mary Valley.

About the festival: The festival began in Maleny and has been held during spring almost every year since the late ’90s. You can expect to find scarecrows from Kenilworth in the south and throughout the Mary Valley via Brooloo, Imbil, Kandanga, Amamoor, and Dagun.

Making scarecrows doesn’t cost an arm and a leg! Most people have the bones of a scarecrow in the shed – a broomstick, a bale of hay and some old clothes, People of all ages are invited to get involved and get creative!

For day trippers, the festival is a great opportunity to discover the rolling hills behind the Sunshine Coast. Find the Mary Valley Scarecrow Festival on Facebook.