GLOCESTER – From artistic creations both humorous and frightful, to an impressive array of food, vendors, live entertainment and family activities, the Glocester Scarecrow Festival will offer visitors plenty to see and do in Chepachet village on Saturday.
The event will be held rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, with a marketplace by the Kent Field Pavilion featuring 36 local vendors, along with sand art and face painting. And that’s just the start of the fun, with musical performances, food trucks and more at locations throughout the village.
For children’s activities, Chepachet Baptist Church at 1213 Putnam Pike will offer pony rides with Enshanting Allie Stables. Moonlit Acres Farm will set up an animal showcase at the church, and Xen Creatures will have a petting zoo.
Visit Friendship Masonic Lodge #7 at 1167 Putnam Pike for official Scarecrow Festival t-shirts, or to purchase a hot dog and French fries. The lodge, which took over sponsorship of the annual event in 2023, will also be collecting donations for the Glocester Food Pantry. This year, the organization will be donating all proceeds to various Glocester community programs.
The festival entertainment lineup includes Generations, the Barber Shop Quartet performing, appropriately, at Hometown Barber Shop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. John Fuzek will be on the front porch of Tavern on Main from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and Lainey Dionne will offer contemporary music at the Pet Boutique from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Catch Bob Droin’s Irish in the Round at Chepachet Union Church from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., or Nolan Leite, offering folk and contemporary music, at Brown & Hopkins from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.
The Southern New England Witch Dancers, meanwhile, will offer two performances, with the first by Century 21 from 1:30 to 2 p.m., and a second by the pavilion grounds from 2:30 to 3 p.m.
Glocester Manton Free Public Library will offer face painting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and food trucks will include Dinolicious, Boba Wave, Four Smoking Guys, Barbara’s Quick Lunch, La Carreta Authentic Mexican and Little B’s BBQ.
At Chepachet Union Church, there will be classic music by the Bel Aires from 3-4 p.m., as well as homemade cookies for sale.
Don’t forget to take a long stroll to catch all of the main attraction: the Scarecrows themselves. Local businesses, organizations and individuals will spread their creations at assigned spots throughout the village and beyond, with typically more than 100 hand-crafted entries competing for titles including funniest and scariest. You’ll work up an appetite for some clam cakes and chowder – on sale at the Chepachet Fire Department.
If you can’t make it on Saturday, there’s will still be plenty of time to get a peek at what has made this unique northern Rhode Island event so popular over the past several years. Scarecrows will remain in place until Sunday, Oct. 30.
