Autumn leaves are falling, the taint of smoke is in the air and a benevolent squadron of scarecrows has taken over Healdsburg Plaza. The annual Scarecrow Festival from Heartizens is underway, with over three dozen hand-built figures created for local nonprofits. “The Healdsburg Scarecrow Festival was founded in 2020 by the Healdsburg Creative Leadership Team as a pandemic-era community art project,” said Tess Aston, now executive director of Heartizens, this year’s sponsor.
“Since then, the Healdsburg Scarecrow Festival has grown into a beloved annual tradition that unites families, local businesses, and nonprofits around Halloween, in 2026, we’re honored to continue on the tradition,” said Aston.
From now until Oct. 24, hand-crafted scarecrows are decorating the Plaza, each telling a story of humor, love and support for a particular local nonprofit. Everyone is invited to show their support for one of these creations by bidding on it at heartizens.org/scarecrow-festival. The winning bidder gets to take home the prize of the Scarecrow itself, to manage those goblins that appear on Halloween.
Bookmark this page and come back later today, when we will have over a dozen photos of this year’s Healdsburg Scarecrow Festival.
