Winchelsea's Australian Wool Sports Championships Committee was formed in 1997 by a group of sporting enthusiasts with a view to developing a combined sporting facility for the Winchelsea community and the relocation of sporting clubs to one venue - Eastern Reserve. To achieve this goal, a unique event was developed and the Australian Wool Sports Championships was created.

The Championships have been a team event comprising 5-person teams competing in the 5 main disciplines of the wool industry; being yard dog trials, shearing, roustabouting, wool classing and wool pressing.

The inaugural year of our event was 2000 and it has since developed into a major event for the township of Winchelsea and the Surf Coast Shire. The event had the prestige of having World Shearing Champion, Shannon Warnest, and the best shearers from around Australia participating, along with outstanding dog handlers, 'rousies', classers and pressers. The event has been honoured at the Surf Coast Shire Australia Day Awards with the Community Event of the Year Award in 2002 and 2006.

In 2005, the Committee decided to give the event a 'festival' feel - this included 6 wineries from the Surf Coast Wine Trail, over 70 market and food stalls, a wood chop, musical entertainment including a performance by 'Code 1' (the popular Police band), along with the regular Wool Sports Championships.

The 2007 event saw a slight change in format, the Championships becoming demonstrations throughout the day of the 5 wool industry disciplines. The Wood Chop included a State Title event, while the market, food & wine stalls, Ute Show, Ferret Cup, Fleece Show, continuous entertainment, children's activities ('KidZone'), emergency services displays, spinning & weaving, stud sheep, vintage vehicles, model boat displays and novelty events continued as usual.

The Festival skipped a year in 2008, due to the Eastern Reserve grounds being renovated with a state-of-the-art recycled watering system and drought-tolerant turf, along with other related works.

In 2009, the format changed again but only slightly, with more emphasis on demonstrations and "touchy-feely" country experiences. Kids got more opportunity not just to see sheep shearing but to feel the wool fresh off the sheep, for example. There was also more emphasis on local and regional produce such as farmers market stalls featuring the food and drink made in Southwest Victoria. The 2009 Winchelsea Festival was the most successful to date in terms of net proceeds - over $15,000 raised toward the Eastern Reserve Master Plan.

For 2010, the Winchelsea Festival aims to continue the event as a country experience. Visit our website every now and then to keep up with developments and plans, and let us know if you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback. The purpose of the Festival is to raise funds for community facilities that will serve thousands of people in this region - every step towards that ambitious goal is one less to take! We hope to see you at this year's Festival.