It’s not only Her Majesty the Queen who has a jubilee in 2012 – some wacky scarecrows will be helping the jubilant villagers of Wray celebrate the Silver Jubilee of their annual country fair this year. And with the Olympics on the way, they’ll all be competing for their places on the winners’ rostrum…
Wray Fair is now an integral part of the ever-popular Wray Scarecrow Festival, one of the ‘cultural’ highlights of the Lune Valley’s calendar. Visitors (but not crows!) flock from far and wide to wander round the picturesque Lancashire village of Wray and enjoy the scarecrows which take over each spring. This year’s festival will start on Saturday 28th April and run through to Wray Fair on Monday 7th May. The first Wray Fair of the modern era was in 1986 (two were cancelled), so this year’s event will be the 25th – it’s a wonderful achievement, which they’re eager to share. The scarecrows first started to appear in 1994 to help promote the fair, were an immediate hit, and have now become a major attraction in their own right.
To mark the occasion of Wray Fair’s Silver Jubilee, one of this year’s themes for the scarecrows will be ‘Anniversaries’. There are plenty to choose from – 2012 marks 200 years since the birth of Charles Dickens, 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic and, of course, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. There’s also a rather significant sporting event taking place in 2012, and so another theme will be ‘Sports and leisure’. Olympic-themed scarecrows will no doubt be jostling for position in the hunt for medals... along with more traditional offerings, topical creations and ingenious moving masterpieces. Virgin Balloon Flights have again generously donated a fabulous champagne balloon flight for two to the lucky overall winner.
For your chance to see the Scarecrows from the sky, you can fly from our Lancashire launch sites Wray, Crook O’Lune or Burton in Lonsdale from as little as £99 per person.
For the full timetable of events and information on the the village of Wray visit www.wrayvillage.co.uk