LOOKING FORWARD TO THE VIERA HARVEST FESTIVAL

August 12, 2025 – The Viera Harvest Festival will be held from 10 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 at Woodside Park. The eight-acre Woodside Park is located off Murrell Road at 1703 Crane Creek Blvd. As a run up to the festivities, the 13th Viera Voice Scarecrow Stroll will be held from Oct. 2 to 16, culminating with the Viera Harvest Festival.

“The beautiful Woodside Park,” said Jill Blue, the CEO of Bluewater Creative Group, which publishes the Viera Voice, Senior Life and the Boomer Guide. “It’s a natural paradise in Brevard County with big trees, soft green grass and clean air.”

Businesses are invited to build a scarecrow to generate foot traffic to their businesses across the greater Viera/ Suntree area from October 2-16. The public will view and vote on the unique creations for the People’s Choice and Best of Show — along with other awards. Winners will earn a trophy and bragging rights for the year.

The scarecrows and schoolcrows will be moved to the Viera Harvest Festival for judging for Best of Show, Best Use of Hay, Most Whimsical and Scariest. The scarecrows will be placed up for silent auction to benefit either the charity or the school.

Continuing with tradition, the kids’ Mini-Crow building contest is open to children in two categories — ages 5 to 8 and 9 to 14. The mini crow can be any character that includes hay in its design, be no taller than 3 feet and can be carried by the child.

The handcrafted ‘Crows will be sold at silent auction during the Viera Harvest Festival to benefit the Florida Wildlife Hospital. It has been selected to be the event’s charity of choice. Florida Wildlife Hospital will also build a scarecrow.

Launched in 1973 by Carlton and Gladys Teate, the Florida Wildlife Hospital is licensed by state and federal agencies to care for all native Florida species, except alligators, manatees, sea turtles and venomous snakes. However, the hospital does not receive federal or state funds for its work.

“Tracy Frampton and her team at the Florida Wildlife Hospital are wonderful and dedicated people,” Blue said. “They care for injured and abandoned wildlife every day — 365 days a year.

“Creating a scarecrow is a fun, team-building exercise that gives employees an even greater sense of pride in their workplace,” Blue said. “When all the ’Crows come together, it creates a colorful scene and makes everyone laugh. This is great for businesses to show off their artistic abilities. Each crow is different and the names can be quite clever like Lego My Scarecrow, Awesome Opossum and Mikey Cowabunga.

“We invite everyone to come out and have fun at the free, family-friendly event,” Blue said. “The scarecrow-building businesses you care about in the community will be supporting the Florida Wildlife Hospital by their participation in this event.”

A pull-out map in a special section will be published in October’s Viera Voice.

The People’s Choice award trophy will go to the ’Crow with the most votes collected during the Stroll.

Source: Viera Voice