Bowlers from around Australia descended on the Lower Clarence last week for one of the biggest events in Yamba Bowling Club history, the 2026 Yamba Festival of Bowls.
The 2026 Yamba Festival of Bowls ran for six days, from Tuesday, May 26, to Sunday, May 31.
“We had 950 impressions on the green, 560 entries, and more than 420 individual members compete across the six days,” Yamba Bowling Club Director of Bowls, Jayson Pinnock said.
The lead up to The Australian Open on the Gold Coast saw bowlers from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Central Queensland, Western NSW, and Sydney hone their skills in the Festival of Bowls.
“We timed it to try and capture that demographic travelling early to the Australian Open, and it’s really worked,” Mr Pinnock said.
A lot of bowlers live a travelling lifestyle, competing in tournaments around Australia, which helped contribute to the number of bowlers at the Festival.
Mr Pinnock said the 2026 Yamba Festival of Bowls was one of the biggest events in the history of Yamba Bowling Club as the club “does everything from start to finish”, all the nominations, the club provides the prizemoney and organises the sponsorship.
Across the six days, the Festival of Bowls had four different events.
On day one, bowlers competed in the Mixed Versatility Fours, with two men and two women playing different rounds and formats of pairs and triples.
A tournament of Mixed Pairs, involving four rounds, with the top six teams receiving prizemoney occurred on day two.
Local legend greenkeeper Bob Ware was celebrated on day three in the Bob Ware Triples.
The final three days saw improved weather for the 48 teams in the $32k Lighthouse Fours, which included sectional play, a knockout division, and a repechage event for those who didn’t make the knockout division.
The 2026 Yamba Festival of Bowls attracted women’s world number one bowler, Kelsey Cottrell, former Australian Jackaroos bowlers Nathan Rice and Brett Wilkie, current para Jackaroo Damien Delgardo, who competes in a wheelchair against able bodied bowlers, as well as high level state bowlers from Queensland, NSW, and Victoria.
“Overall, the quality of the fields were quite high,” Mr Pinnock said.
Yamba Bowling Club Ceo, Greg Targett said the 2026 Festival of Bowls was more than just a bowls tournament, it brought benefits for Yamba and the Lower Clarence region.
In his 37-year hospitality career, Mr Targett said it was one of the best weeks he’s ever been involved with.
When he became president of Business Yamba, Mr Targett said he told members of his and the club’s commitment to ensure big events keep happening so the whole town benefits.
“Restaurants, cafes, accommodation all benefit,” he said.
“Yamba Bowling Club is a community asset and the best thing we can do for the town, and the community is to keep running events.”
Mr Targett said the feedback about the festival from bowlers was outstanding.
“Random people were coming up to us and thanking us for such a great event,” he said.
“They commented positively on how well run it was, the staff, the service, the food, the greens, and the organisation.”
Mr Pinnock said he received extremely encouraging feedback.
“I had comments that Yamba is one of the best bowling clubs in the world, while some prominent bowlers said geez our Queensland clubs need to come down and see how you do things,” he said.
The next big event on the Yamba Bowling Club calendar, held for the first time in Australia is the week-long World Bowls Series, a massive coup for the club, who were approached by the organisers to host a round in late August.
2026 Yamba Festival of Bowls results can be found on the Yamba Bowls Facebook page.
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 5 June 2026.
