The annual Harvest Festival at Lombardi Ranch is set to kick off Sunday with a scarecrow contest. “People make scarecrows and install them in our sunflower field,” said Joann Lombardi, owner of Lombardi Ranch. “The scarecrows will be judged and the winners will be announced at 1 p.m.”  The scarecrows will be on display thorough the harvest festival, which runs the entire month of October. Each day there are events and rides, Lombardi said. “On the weekends we have music, hay rides, pony rides and train rides,” she said.  The festivities will be even more intense this year since it is the ranch’s 40^th anniversary. There will be free cake, train rides, a pumpkin carving contest and special music from various bands, Lombardi said. All the same attractions will be present this year including a bake sale, face painting, a petting zoo, wagon rides and a corn maze, which is new for this year. Lombardi said the festival typically draws thousands of people and that she is expecting this year to be the same. The ranch will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week throughout October. Lombardi Ranch is located at 29527 Bouquet Canyon Road in Saugus .

For more information, call 296-8697, or visit www.lombardiranch.com .