Midlothian Castle & The Screaming Heads

The home of Harvest Festival is Midlothian Castle & The Screaming Heads, located at 981 Midlothian Rd, Burk’s Falls, Ontario, Canada. The property is about 240 km north of Toronto and 375 km west of Ottawa.

Harvest takes place across this extraordinary 300+ acre landscape, where music, art, forest, ponds and Peter Camani’s enormous concrete sculptures come together. For attendees, The Screaming Heads aren’t simply a backdrop to the festival, they are part of the experience.

Peter Camani is an artist and sculptor who has spent decades transforming what was once farmland into a remarkable outdoor work of art. He began developing the property around 1981, planting trees, creating ponds and building sculptures, structures and gardens across the land. His paintings hang in places including the Vatican and Buckingham Palace.

Looking north west from drone of grassy land

CAMANI Midlothian Risque ornate gate with skeleton figures in autumn foliage

Peacock on wall near stone dragon sculpture and gothic house

Peacock in front of a vine-covered stone building with large windows.

Stone circle sculptures under a starry sky with a comet, Midlothian.

Majestic white peacock displaying its fanned tail feathers in a garden.

Woman plays cello outdoors near a rustic market stand.

Moonlight shines through a large rock formation shaped like the letter A.

Concrete sculpture resembling a face in a field with autumn trees

Scary carved stone faces at night with bonfires

Sunlight glints on a pond covered in lily pads, with tall reeds on the right.

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Ruins of a concrete dinosaur sculpture in a grassy field with a pond.

Ornate metal circle gate in misty forest by lake with house in distance

White ducks resting by trees near a lake and gravel path

Rows of lush green kale and broccoli on a farm at sunset

Today, more than 100 concrete sculptures stand throughout the property. Many of the famous Screaming Heads are approximately six metres (20 feet) tall and weigh as much as 27 tonnes. But there is much more to discover: enormous hands, horses, dragons, memorials, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Primeval Forest, a collection of towering concrete trees.

From the air, the arrangement of the sculptures forms the shape of a dragon, a detail Camani planned as part of his decades-long transformation of the property.

The sculptures also have deeper meaning. Camani has explored ideas of duality, light and shadow in his work, with the appearance of the sculptures changing as the sun moves across the sky. The Screaming Heads can also be seen as a warning about environmental degradation, the earth rebelling against what we are doing to the land.

As you explore the grounds, you’ll find quiet ponds, a meandering stream, forests, gardens and wildlife alongside the giant sculptures. Peacocks typically roam the property, but are kept away during the festival, adding another unexpected element to this already unusual landscape.

Midlothian Castle itself is Peter Camani’s private residence and is not open to visitors. However, the extraordinary exterior, sculpture gardens and surrounding grounds provide plenty to explore. Please respect the private areas of the property while enjoying the festival grounds.

The castle and Screaming Heads have appeared on television programs including CBC’s On The Road Again, Arthur Black’s Weird Homes and MTV’s Cribs.

Harvest has called Midlothian home since 2007. Over the years, the festival has also added structures to the landscape, including the geodesic Thermodome, Pyramid, and Crash. These additions remain part of the evolving landscape beyond the festival itself. The stonehenge-like The Heads stage and The Pines stage use the beautiful surroundings as backdrops.

The Screaming Heads Merchandise

The Screaming Heads Merchandise Stand is located in the parking lot near the castle. It sells T-shirts and hats featuring Peter Camani’s iconic artwork. This merchandise is only available here at Midlothian. The Screaming Heads artwork is separate from Harvest Festival but the two identities have become closely associated in our community. Harvest festival doesn’t have merchandise with its name.

Behind the merchandise stand, the Midlothian Valley Farm market may also be open, offering fresh organic fruits, vegetables, honey and other local products.

Peter explains the meaning behind one of his T-shirt designs below, featuring two hands and three Screaming Heads.

Learn more: The Screaming Heads of Midlothian: Ontario’s Most Unforgettable Outdoor Art Experience