The Royal Croquet Club hits town at the end of this week and we can’t wait for the festival to begin. We sat down and asked Grant Smillie, one of the people responsible for organising this event, what to expect over the festival.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE ROYAL CROQUET CLUB
We are so excited for the Royal Croquet Club to start – it’s such a fantastic event that we’re looking forward to. What inspired you to bring the event to Melbourne?
I saw the event in action in Adelaide and immediately thought of bringing it to the banks of the Yarra. We have such a unique culture and desire to experience events in Melbourne and therefore it was a no-brainer. In Adelaide however, the festival was partnered with the iconic Fringe Festival, but I felt that given the Melbourne audience and love for food, the festival could be anchored by other things like Melbourne’s iconic food haunts to make it a stand alone event.
The festival is more than just Croquet with food and music also being a focus. What are some of your highlights of the festival?
Given Melbourne’s love for food, we have hand-picked iconic vendors to anchor the event, with operators to the calibre of DOC, Messina, Mr Claws, Meatmother, Miss Chu and St Ali, the food will be amazing. Add some of Melbourne’s great food trucks to the mix over the Australia Day long weekend and pair that with musical acts such as The Kite String Tangle, Norman Jay MBE, Miami Horror and Japanese Wallpaper and we’ve got all the ingredients (excuse the pun) for an amazing event.
Croquet isn’t a well known sport or past time in Australia. Is it a hard game to master?
Not really at all, all you need is an open mind and not to take yourself too seriously! Croquet is a lot of fun!
Any tips for a Croquet beginner?
The pitches will be uniquely different – the bottom level is synthetic and the pitches on the middle level will be grass so the roll will be different on each. As a beginner all you need is to take a few practices with the mallet and the ball before making the first strike to gauge how fast the roll is! At the end of the day, the festival is a whole lot of fun with plenty of laughs!
When we think of croquet, we think of Kings and Queens or people wearing a lot of plaid and long socks! What’s the ultimate outfit for Croquet?
Casual cool. It’s like a hipster made out with a Yale preppie. It is Melbourne, no doubt it will be low-fi couture at its best! My tip? One piece that will bring the outfit together….
For more information on the Royal Croquet Club read more
hereOn from January 16-31 at Birrarung Marr.
