Home of the Gift

STAWELL is the home of the richest footrunning carnival in the world - the Stawell Easter Athletic Carnival, featuring the famous Stawell Gift. The carnival is now conducted over three days - Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday - and continues to draw the cream of Australian footrunners and many from abroad.

It is a proud tradition of the Stawell Athletic Club that every event is started precisely at the time stated in the program. The Stawell Athletic club was formed in 1878, the first sports meeting held on Easter Monday 1878 in the Botanical Reserve, now known as the Grampians Gate Caravan Park.

The Gift Race was run on 130 yards of a straight 220 yard track and won by W. J. Millard from Condah, near Hamilton. The winner's prize was 20 sovereigns.

The first meeting provided the equivalent of $220 in prizemoney. The 1977 centenary meeting carried prizemoney of $22,000 plus handsome trophies and this was increased to more than $75,000 for the 1988 gift meeting.

The Stawell Gift Hall of Fame in Main Street, Stawell, offers the history of the world's best known foot race, with videos, photographs and equipment covering more than a century.

It is open for inspection Monday to Friday from 9am to 11am or by appointment. Phone (03) 5358 1326.