Quinta Pedagógica dos Prazeres organizes this Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 11:00 am, the X Show of Scarecrows in partnership with the Calheta School Delegation, CEDECS (Association Center for Studies and Development, Culture, Education and Social) and with the support of Calheta City Council.
The activity is proposed to the general public and in particular to schools, civic and social centers and other public/private institutions in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
It consists of the construction of scarecrows for exhibition at Quinta Pedagógica dos Prazeres and the rest of the parish of Prazeres. Scarecrows seek to simulate the human figure and are made from old clothes and hats, and may or may not be made with rags, straw, burlap or other materials. These are placed in the middle of cultivated land or in vegetable gardens during sowing time in order to scare away birds. It is quite an old tradition.
This Exhibition has as main objectives: to unite generations and traditions with popular wisdom; promote the development of multidisciplinary projects (value of collaborative work) for the design and construction of a scarecrow; sensitize the school and local community to the tradition of making scarecrows and their importance in other times; raise awareness of the importance of agricultural production; recover and streamline a tradition that has lost expression in Madeira; stimulate the aesthetic sense, the taste for embellishing the environment and creativity in the field of various forms of plastic expression; express and encourage the ability to improvise and use waste materials; be environmentally friendly; create a tourist attraction in the municipality of Calheta.