In September 2024 I had a fun surprise: I got asked to be a judge for the Akron
Scarecrow Festival! I was super excited, but what even is the Great Akron
Scarecrow Festival?? Based on research and on my personal experience attending
this cute festival as a judge and enjoying the festivities, here's what you
should know if you're considering going in a future year:
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The Great Akron Scarecrow Festival is an annual fall festival in Akron, Iowa
which includes lots of scarecrow themed fun. Most notably, they have a big
scarecrow contest with lots of creative entries in several divisions. The
Great Akron Scarecrow Festival has been celebrated every year since fall 2000
and is still going strong, on the third Saturday of September each year. Besides the scarecrow contest, the festival also
has a kids zone, petting zoo, food vendors, craft vendors, photo opps, and a
cute train!
One of the highlights of the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival is the scarecrow
contest. Dozens of entrants build elaborate scarecrows and compete in age
divisions for kids, tweens and teens, and adults, plus a category for clubs.
The resulting scarecrows are impressive, mostly cute and occasionally spooky
instead. I wanted to give them all prizes and had a tough time choosing
winners with my fellow judges. There was so much time, talent, creativity, and
hard work on display!
Come hungry to the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival, because they have delicious
food for sale! There is a food station inside a picnic shelter with delicious
sandwiches and hot dogs, chips, drinks, and desserts. I got a free meal as a
judge and chose a sloppy joe with chips and a slice of apple pie, and it was
so good! There was such a huge variety of flavors available, and they sure
looked homemade to me. We also bought a cookie bar, which turned out to be a
sugar cookie bar with pink buttercream frosting and rainbow sprinkles, and it
was delicious too.
The Kids Zone at the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival featured a variety of free
and ticketed fun. Free fun included a playground and petting zoo, plus some
cute photo opps. In 2024 there were goats, kitties, bunnies, and a mama and
newborn baby donkey!
To learn more about the festival, visit
the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival website
or connect with them
on Facebook. KTIV also had
a great story about the festival.
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What is the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival?
Where is the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival?
The Great Akron Scarecrow Festival takes place at the Akron City Park in
Akron, Iowa. The park is just off Iowa Highway 12, across the street from The
Spot coffee shop (be sure to grab a drink for your drive home!) Akron City
Park is about 35 minutes north of Sioux City or about an hour south of Sioux
Falls. There is ample free parking at Akron City Park for the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival. Just turn left at the pool and follow the car in front of you!
The Scarecrow Contest at the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival
Food and craft vendors at the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival
Besides food there are also a large number of other vendors. A few stalls that
stood out included handmade wooden decor, 3d printed cute miniatures, beef
tallow balm, and handmade doll clothes (they would fit Barbies and Kens)
And there were booths that weren't selling anything but were instead
representing local organizations or businesses, like the Akron Chamber of
Commerce and the Lions Club. Many of them had fun giveaways or activities,
like there was a scavenger hunt from the local chamber and tons of little
treats from Coilcraft.
Kids Zone at the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival
Tickets for the non-free activities in the kids zone were 50 cents in 2024,
and the train ride and most of the carnival games were only 1 ticket! The
carnival games all had prizes and included plinko, pumpkin bowling, a leapfrog
game, punch a cup, fishing over a painted wall.
There was also face painting for a few tickets and I saw so many kids with
adorable face paint!
The train was definitely a highlight for my kids. Parents could ride too, and
it just went for a short sweet little ride to look at all the scarecrows and
then back to the hay bale station to load the next group!
Find out more about the Great Akron Scarecrow Festival
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