Castlemaine is set to become the Scrabble capital of the world, thanks to the Giant Scrabble Battle event which took place during the Castlemaine Fringe Festival.

This year marked the 30th year of the festival, and the Scrabble Battle is quickly becoming one of the most popular events on the bill.

The Scrabble Battle was first held as part of the festival in 2021, but the idea had been brewing for many years before that.

Castlemaine local Camilo Demarco came up with the concept while at a friend’s birthday camping trip, where too many people wanted to play a game, leaving many standing around watching.

Camilo asked his late partner Patricia Hay how they could create a game that multiple people could play at once, and the idea for Scrabble Battle was born.

Camilo’s late father Horacio Demarco, set about creating giant Scrabble letters by hand with Camilo and Trish helping to sand and paint them, branding themselves The Department of Alphabology.

They held word game events at festivals such as Melbourne Writers Festival and the Castlemaine State Festival, but the vision to have a projected Scrabble board to both play on and watch didn’t become fully realised until local projectionist Jim Coad, became involved.

The Salvage Yard generously provided the space to host the event, and Jim projected a Scrabble board over 25 square metres in size onto the ground and an adjacent wall.

This year, 16 teams of 4-5 people played four timed rounds until four teams competed in the final battle of the night.

Teams took their names and costumes as seriously as their game, with ‘Cunning Linguists’ and ‘The Alpha Betties’ among the creative titles.

The event itself raised funds for non-profit charity, ‘I Am Someone’, a local non-profit organisation creating projects that lift children with no family support out of extreme poverty in four different communities in Africa.

They provide education, nutrition, healthcare and shelter to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

The event raised over four thousand dollars for the cause.

Scrabble Battle appeals to word nerds, Scrabble aficionados and fans of oversized fun.

Winners took home all the glory plus an original artwork trophy made by local artist Jim Naylor.

The event wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of its many volunteers, and the success of the event is a testament to the creativity and community spirit of Castlemaine.

While Trish and Horacio are no longer with us, the legacy of what they helped to create lives on.

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 7 April 2023.