A NATIONAL polocrosse tournament, outdoor cinema night, working dog trials, bush music festival and Johnny Mullagh Memorial Cricket match are just some of the massive calendar of events, keeping the district busy, this long weekend.

State and national players will be among the more than 20 teams heading to the Casterton polocrosse grounds this Saturday and Sunday, as the Casterton teams look to build on recent success at the Corio tournament.

Harry Boyle, Asha Maguire, Matt Bowman and Darren, Justin and Phoebe Carlin teamed up for Casterton in the B Grade competition at Corio, taking out the final against Moorooduc, with Phoebe named best horse and rider combo for the tournament.

Casterton’s E Grade team also made the finals, with captain Molly Dennis and her troops, Diana Tait, Bailey Carlin, Jan Allen, Lauren Mulla and Kady Moore narrowly missing out on the title to a Ballarat/pool side.

Club president, Justin Carlin said the locals expected to enter teams in A, B, C and D Grade at the home tournament, this weekend, with plenty of up-and-comers also expected to take the field in the sub-juniors.

He said while last year’s tournament drew huge numbers in the lead-up to the nationals, this year’s event should still see impressive numbers.

“We were the last tournament before the nationals, last year, so the last chance for everyone to have a run before the big event, but being a long weekend, people are happy to travel for an event, so we should have 20 to 25 teams entered this year,” he said.

Polocrosse action kicks off from 8am on Saturday and Sunday, with no gate entry fee for spectators, full catering on-site and the bar open from 3pm on Saturday, with dinner, auction and live band until 1am.

“Local businesses have been really generous again with sponsorship and donating items for the auction and our club sends a big thank you to everyone who has supported us for the weekend,” Justin said.

“There’s garden and farm equipment, tack, grooming and feed for horses, a really good quality esky, vouchers … plenty of great items for bidding.”

The club will also host a sponsors day on the Sunday, where the club’s supporters are invited to head to the ground for a catered event and some one-on-one instruction on the finer points of the game.

And if four-legged entertainers are your thing, then the Wando Vale Dog Trials – this year running over three days – might be right up your alley.

In 1927 the Victorian Working Sheep Dog Association was formed by those who saw the need to foster the working and breeding of better sheep dogs and as a result, sheep dog trials sprang up across the state.

Now in its 79th year, the Wando Vale trials are a local institution, run in encourage, novice, improvers and open sections and bearing the names of the region’s original working dog farmers and triallers, such as Bilston and Donehue.

Historic Harrow figure, Johnny Mullagh and his First XI will once again take centre stage at Harrow, with the cricket match in his name taking to the town’s reserve on Sunday.

Harrow’s famous National Bush Billycart Championships also return to the town over the weekend, with men, women and junior drivers heading down the notorious main street hill on Saturday and Sunday, for the chance to take line honours.

And wrapping up the weekend is Sandford’s town-wide Bush Music Festival.

Kicking off on Friday night, the weekend’s entertainment includes perfectors of prose with poetry readings, plenty of high-energy musical acts, market stalls and catering to suit all tastes and budgets, at the Sandford Rec Reserve.

The Sandford Mechanics Institute will also host a day of activity on Sunday, with the tea rooms open for their famous fare and market stalls selling wares from plants to handcrafts.