Organised by the Northern District Croquet Association (NDCA), the festival is unique in that it covers both popular forms of the game - golf croquet, which will be played on Saturday and Sunday, and association croquet (Monday to Wednesday).

The NDCA’s Bill Humphries said previous festivals have been hugely successful with players representing clubs from Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.

“Because of the large numbers involved, the NDCA uses the Bendigo grass tennis complex and the historic Bendigo Croquet Club lawns in Barnard Street as its venues,” he said.

“The golf croquet event is so popular it’s not uncommon for it to be booked out six or more weeks before the closing date.

“An exciting new innovation this year will be a short croquet event on October 1 as a warm-up for the association croquet tournament.

“Matches will last no longer than one hour and this form of croquet can be likened to a 20/20 game of cricket.”

Among the favourites for the tournament is Lois Kirk, from the Quarry Hill club, who won last year’s top event.

The full range of playing levels is catered for during the five-day event, from the top division down to those playing their first tournament.

Humphries said members of the public were invited to watch this fascinating game to see why it is growing in popularity every year.

“But beware – it is contagious,” he said.

Play is from 8am to 4pm each day.