Scarecrow Festival

New location at Macaulay Park for popular event

The annual Scarecrow Festival took place last weekend in a new location at Macaulay Heritage Park and with new organizers. After more than a decade being run by The Department of Illumination, the Thanksgiving weekend festival was transferred over to the organizers of the Halloween Terror at Macaulay. “Krista Dalby [from The Department of Illumination] approached me earlier this year and asked me if I wanted take it on and I gladly accepted, because it is such a joyous event,” said Gaby Cole, who together with Vanessa Rieger are the people behind Terror at Macaulay. This year they have partnered with NorthFIRE Circus for the event. Visitors were able to try out some aerial arts moves under the direction of performers Katie and Victoria, decorate a mini pumpkin, take part in a Tarot Card reading, and have some snacks and hot apple cider. There was a fee for making your own scarecrow, where people were provided with a wooden frame as the skeleton upon which to build. “Making a scarecrow is super fun,” said Ms. Cole. “We have this ‘shopping area’ where there are pants, dresses, hats and even goggles, where they will get the clothes and then they will stuff it with straw and hay.”

The aerial lessons were a popular draw for both adults and children, though only a few of the latter mustered up the courage to be suspended upside down. Katie has been performing as a circus artist for over 10 years. “I remember going to see a concert years and years ago and seeing all these beautiful people who and moving, and thinking to myself I really want to do that. So I started hula hooping and that was my gateway prop to everything else: flow arts to aerial arts to circus in general,” she said. “I love doing this. I love showing people that, yes, they can do this. It’s literally just practice, and NorthFIRE is here today to teach people and show them the love of circus.”

The event on the weekend was a partial fundraiser for The Witches, which will take place at Macaulay House on the following two weekends. It is partially funded by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, and funds raised this past weekend will be used to offset some of the cost of the tickets. The Witches is a joint project by North- FIRE Circus at Terror at Macaulay. Rooms at Macaulay House will be decorated with art installations to tell the story of each of the characters of The Triple Moon Goddess: Maiden, Mother Crone. NorthFIRE Circus will provide a 30- minute outdoor aerial and fire performance on the grounds. The Scarecrow Festival fundraiser will help to keep the tickets affordable at a package of four for $100, compared with the regular ticket price of $35 each. “It’s an incredibly complex show with multiple actors and circus performers, so we want to make sure we’re keeping this affordable in every way we can,” said Ms. Cole. The entire show will take approximately one hour and there are two performances each night on October 18 and 19, and October 25 and 26. For more information and to order tickets, please visit northfirecircus.com/the-witches-1.