A legion of scarecrows and pumpkins will invade the streets of the villages this October with the Essex Board of Trade Scarecrow Festival and the Ivoryton Village Pumpkin Festival.

The Scarecrow Festival will be celebrated noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 along Main Street in Essex Village. There will be games on the lawn at the Connecticut River Museum, a cannoli truck, chili served by the First Congregational Church, a folk singer at Toys Ahoy, a complimentary pint glass with an ale at the Griswold Inn, and The Shiny Lapel Trio rocking the Main Street park. Those who are creatively inspired will get an opportunity to do some DIY scarecrow making.

The event starts even earlier for some. Individuals, families, businesses, co-workers, and organizations are encouraged to create, contribute, compete, and deliver their own life-size straw folks to J. Alden Clothiers, 17 Main Street, Essex Village by Wednesday, Oct. 4. Entering the contest is free.

Essex Board of Trade President Amy Cameron said that she would love to see scarecrows entered from neighboring towns.

“Anybody can participate. The more the merrier. It takes a village to make scarecrows great again,” she says, laughing.

The scarecrows will populate the streets of the three Essex villages for the remainder of the month and voting for the best begins Columbus Day weekend, on Thursday, Oct. 5 (Oct. 6 is the rain day). Ballots are available at Board of Trade members’ businesses in Essex, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton. Voting wraps up on Sunday, Oct. 29. Five winners—categorized by Most Town Spirit, Most Beautiful, Most Creative, Most Creative, and of course the Most Scary—will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at the Essex Halloween Children’s Parade and gain bragging rights as a prize.

The Board of Trade is a community-based, non-profit, all-volunteer organization of local business owners and other organizations, such as the Essex Department of Parks & Recreation.

The 17th annual Ivoryton Village Pumpkin Festival takes over historic downtown Ivoryton on Saturday, Oct. 21.

Mary Ellen Barnes, director of Essex Parks and Recreation, oversees the festival and encourages friends and families alike to have old-fashioned pumpkin carving parties in advance of the festival. She reminds everyone that there is no such thing as a perfect pumpkin, so the carving doesn’t have to reach perfection either.

“When they are lit, every pumpkin is perfect,” she said.

Homemade works of pumpkin art can be dropped off on the lawn of the Ivoryton Playhouse from 9 a.m. until noon. The donated pumpkins will be carved during that time and everyone is invited to take a stab at creating a jack-o-lantern. There will be a mass lighting at 5 p.m. followed by a chance to take a stroll and see the glittering handiwork, plus enjoy the merriment on the village green.

Festival attendees will spend the evening taking hayrides, trying some of the confections, listening to Federation jam out on the Playhouse patio, and watching episodes of that friendly ghost, Casper, on the big screen.

The Pumpkin Festival brings out the generosity of many groups and individuals and is a completely free event. Everything, including the face painting by Bohemian Body Art, the hayride, the Lions Club hot dogs, and hot chocolate from All Saints Church, is free. There will be up to 50 volunteers, including 20 to 30 students from the Rotary-sponsored youth leadership Valley Interact Club, on hand to help out. More than 200 pumpkins have been donated by the police and Bushy Hill Nature Center for the pumpkin carving.

For more information about the Essex Scarecrow Festival, visit the Board of Trade’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/EssexBOT.

For tips and tricks on carving your pumpkin (including how to make it last longer) and the full Ivoryton Village Pumkpin Festival schedule, visit the event page at www.facebook.com/IvorytonVillagePumpkinFestival.