stawell easter gift

Another great reason to visit the Grampians National Park is the Stawell Gift 2011.

Date: Friday 22nd – Tuesday 26th April, 2011 (Easter Weekend)

If you don’t know anything about the Stawell Gift, I promise you are in for a treat. The Stawell Gift is arguably the most famous foot race in Australia and one of the most famous foot races throughout the world. The history of the gift is ingrained in Australian folklore being run since 1878 and it is probably the most famous event throughout the year in the Grampians. You too can in fact become part of this folklore and take part. Yes that’s right, anybody can enter the gift and anybody can win. The beauty of the gift is that it pits amateurs against professionals levelling the playing field by using a handicapping system. What that means is a professional might be way quicker than you but you could have a 10m head start. That is sizeable when you consider the race is only 120m long. With $40,000 prize money up for grabs as well, what are you waiting for?

It’s often called the Stawell Easter Gift because it is run over Easter weekend. However the Stawell Gift 2011 (the 130th edition of the event) will see a change to the typical three-day timetabling/scheduling of the event, owing to Anzac Day falling on Easter Monday. The gift is not just for athletes and sports lovers however. It really is a carnival atmosphere and there is a full entertainment package along side the 60+ races.

Accommodation for the Stawell Gift 2011

With thousands of people descending on Stawell and the Grampians each year for this event, it comes as no surprise that Halls Gap accommodation and Grampians accommodation nearby fill up extremely quickly. So book your accommodation early so that you can enjoy the Stawell Gift 2011 to its fullest.