WILLOWFEST is gearing up for a party like none other this year.
To help celebrate the carnival’s 35th anniversary, former cricketers, administrators and umpires will mark the occasion with a cruise down the Murray River on the PS Mundoo.
Willowfest president Anthony Telfer said as many as 150 cricket enthusiasts would attend the cruise on December 2
7, including this year’s ambassador Ian Callen.
“It will be a party, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr Telfer said.
“We’ve got presentation to our teams that have played for 10, 15, 20 and 25 years.
“We’re also picking a team of 35 players over the 35 years.”
Mr Telfer said Willowfest, which is Australia’s premier cricket carnival, said the cruise would be a great way to reminisce over the past 35 years.
“I’m really looking forward to it, we used to conduct a players’ cruise back in the 1980s and the 1990s,” he said.
“I happened to be a player back then and it was just a fabulous night.”
However, the Willowfest committee is searching for Willowfest memorabilia that may help make the night even better.
Among the missing memorabilia are the AGC Cups, which teams used to play for during the carnival, and the 1979 and 2002 programs.
Mr Telfer said the memorabilia would be a great way to help illustrate the success of Willowfest.
“We’re just looking for clubs that may be interested in loaning their memorabilia for the week so we can have them at our cruise,” he said.
“We’ll take any memorabilia, someone has already given us a poster from the band that played back in 1989.
“We’re just happy to take it and expose it to all the current cricketers playing in Willowfest.”
Former Willowfest president Chris Cleary, who has been involved with the carnival since its inception, said there would be some great memories shared on the cruise.
“Willowfest has had a tremendous history,” Mr Cleary said.
“There will be 35 years of tremendous memories so I think it will be a great occasion.
“There’s a lot of history, there’s things you forget and then when you flick through the magazines and booklets, all the memories start coming back very quickly.”
Tickets can be purchased online at www.willowfest.com.au/willowfest-reunion
