The 25th annual Fairport Scarecrow Festival will take place on Saturday Oct. 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will center on Main Street with dozens of scarecrows created by community residents, businesses and organizations on display.

In the spirit of our election season, a new prize category: Best Political Scarecrow, has been created.

“It’s the perfect thematic opportunity for this event” said, David Butry, chairman of the Scarecrow committee for 2012. “We’re certain we’ll see a lot of creative ideas come out of it.” “But we want fun, positive, supportive messages, not negative, attack scarecrows” said Butry.

An annual event, Fairport Scarecrow Festival was founded by the Fairport Perinton Merchants Association in 1987 to promote area merchants. Now in its 25th year, the festival has become a right of fall in Fairport, drawing thousands to the village to view the creative, whimsical, and funny creations throughout the middle two weeks of October.

The annual Fairport Music and Food Festival to benefit Golisano Children’s Hospital will be held on Saturday August 25.

This year, Carbon Leaf, The Campbell Brothers, Brass Taxi, Blue Sky and Wild Horses will be performing on three different stages from 12 p.m. until 10 p.m.

In addition to music and food, there are arts and crafts and special games for children, rides and a beer tent for adults.
 
Event Co-Director Andy McDermott said, “It’s basically a giant party with music and food, and the community comes out to celebrate the day. We hit upon the idea of a musical festival as a unique way to benefit the hospital. We figured it’s a community event, and what’s more worthwhile in the community than the children’s hospital?”

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Admission for children under 12 is free.

The Town of Perinton’s two-week celebration of its 200th anniversary comes to a close this weekend with a gala family picnic on Saturday, July 14 and a concert on Sunday, July 15 evening, both at Center Park behind the Perinton Community Center on Turk Hill Road.

“We’ve had a wonderful string of events with great participation from the community,” said Pat Knapp, member of the Perinton Bicentennial Executive Committee. “But we’ve always planned that the family picnic this Saturday would be a highlight, because there’s something for people of all ages – and, once again, it’s all free.”

The picnic, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday features an antique car show, a firemen’s waterball competition, a horseshoe tournament, a Lollypop Farm “kissing booth,” Gadgets the Clown, and plenty of traditional, old-time picnic games like potato sack relays, and three-legged races.