Scarecrows are back for Alpharetta’s free walking tour

Don’t expect to see any crows in Alpharetta until next month.

Although the coronavirus pandemic forced the city to cancel its traditional Scarecrow Harvest Festival, the community wasn’t about to let it go unrecognized.

“In response to this difficult decision,” the city wrote on its website, “we put out a call to the Alpharetta community to step up and help keep the ‘Alpharetta Scarecrow’ tradition alive and…WOW…you responded in force!”

School groups, businesses, civic and faith-based organizations, and families were invited to participate, and more than 120 responded.

Instead of congregating in Brooke Street Park, this year’s festival will have six “Scarecrow Patches” to visit on the official walking tour. The six patches are within a square mile and can be done in one walk or broken up in to a few strolls.

Earlier, the festival presented two awards to participants: People’s Choice and Alpharetta’s Schoolest Award.

The People’s Choice, for the scarecrow receiving the most “selfie” votes online, went to Holy Redeemer Catholic School.

The Schoolest Award, for the school with the most scarecrow entries, went to Alpharetta Christian Academy.

The Scarecrow Harvest runs through Nov. 2 in downtown Alpharetta. You can check out the map of the six patches and list of participants here. The walking tour is free and outside, so you can stay socially distanced.