PLANNING their entry for the annual Burley-in-Wharfdale Summer Festival Scarecrow Trail, the little members of Jolly Tots Pre-school nursery recently held a creative ideas session.

With the Very Hungry Caterpillar as their chosen theme, the children set about drawing various designs based on pictures from the popular book. They plan to create an enormous caterpillar, out of tyres and straw, to be situated by the Grange fir tree on Main Street.

Ginny Jowett, director of Jolly Tots said: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an all time favourite with our children and they have enjoyed paying tribute to Eric Carle with their imaginative drawings.”

Along with Jolly Tots, other village pre-schools, nurseries and play groups have registered to join in the fun.

In this the 13th Year of the Summer Festival, the scarecrow trail theme is Nursery Rhymes. The committee invite the local community to make their own scarecrow based on this theme. The scarecrow trail competition is open to residents, businesses, and village organisations. Scarecrows need to be put up by Friday, August 20, no later than 5pm and remain until Sunday, August 29, coinciding with the full week of the Summer festival celebrations. Judging will take place throughout the week.

There will be a first prize of £25, a runner up of £15 and £10 for third prize. All completed judging forms will be entered in a draw for a £10 prize. A cup will be presented to the winning business or society.

As the Festival is not as extensive as previous years, due to current coronavirus situation, the emphasis will be on staging a wide range of small-scale events and activities which can be enjoyed by the whole community.

Festival chair, Jan Lepley said: “You can’t beat a good well organised village event and with so many traditional events still cancelled, our committee was determined to find a safe way for the Festival to go ahead with hopefully something for everyone. I feel we have achieved this goal with a wider range of events this year, than last year.

“A short events programme will shortly be distributed to every household giving details of the activities and the day and time they occur.

“In addition to the scarecrow trail, there are other trails to enjoy, including: a Burley Monopoly Trail, a Burley business hunt and mysteriously a mystery of the missing mugs code breaker challenge.

“Local businesses and our hospitality venues have also joined in the fun with such events as a family fun day, live entertainment evenings, cocktail and platter supper nights and a traditional Bangladeshi curry tasting evening. Adding to this activity cauldron, are two play in the park sessions, teddy bears picnic, Djembe drumming, Zumba session, a fishing activity and cricket play.

“One of the highlights will be a village community event showcasing local clubs, societies and social groups, held at Grange Park on Sunday 22nd August. A live band will be playing from 11.30am and Burley Craft Collective will also take part.

“One of the most popular activities is back for this year, bigger and better. Burley Walkers are Welcome will be providing a whole range of interesting and varied activities, including historic shops of Burley, a visit to a local farm, heritage way and a visit to a local bee-keepers. They will be selling trails in the week prior to the festival on July 31 at the Roundhouse in Grange Park from 10am to 1pm.

“Members of the Festival committee will be at the Roundhouse in Grange Park from Saturday 21 August for the whole week, from 10 am to 4pm. They will be providing information and selling forms for various trails (£1 each).

“Forms can be returned to the Roundhouse up to 4pm on Saturday 28th August and can also be emailed to burleysummerfestival@gmail.com or burleyscarecrows@gmail.com They can also be put through the letter box at Burley Library or the Queens Hall.

“So, everything is set for the Festival to warm welcome to everyone young and old, ensuring that Burley is back in business with a bang!”