Charlottetown hopes scarecrow festival will draw flocks of visitors

Charlottetown hopes a scarecrow festival next month will provide a boost to the downtown area.

P.E.I. artists are creating 300 scarecrows that will be placed throughout the city.

Charlottetown residents are also encouraged to make their own scarecrows displays.

The Scarecrows in the City Festival will run from Oct. 9-18. It will include entertainment and self-guided tours.

Heidi Zinn, executive director of Discover Charlottetown, said she's hoping the festival will attract Island residents as well as visitors from across the Atlantic bubble.

We do really want to get people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and give them another great reason to visit. Heidi Zinn

"We want to bring people downtown, we want to bring people in the shops, into restaurants and have families and couples and visitors, give them another reason to wander the beautiful streets," she said.

"We do really want to get people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and give them another great reason to visit."

Scarecrow festivals have been popular in other parts of the country.Mahone Bay, N.S., has held its scarecrow festival for 22 years, but decided to cancel this year due to COVID-19.

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