Annual Willunga Jigsaw Mania 29 April 2023

Jigsaw Mania is breaking out in Willunga. Whether passion or addiction, speed puzzling is on the rise and the only cure is a giant day of As-Fast-As-You-Can jigsaw puzzling on Saturday 29 April 2023.

From early beginnings with just 22 teams having fun in 2018 to a massive turnout and State Championships in 2022, Willunga has established itself as South Australia’s competitive jigsaw capital. In 2021, the competition expanded from teams to solo entrants tackling 500-piece puzzles in the fastest time. Eighteen took on the solo challenge the first year and 55 in 2022, with even more expected this year, including many entrants from interstate. Jigsaw Mania is highly contagious.

Willunga Jigsaw Mania 2023 is open to Teams of two or four and Soloists. Teams compete in the morning at the Willunga Recreation Park Festival Hall and Soloists in the afternoon. With refreshments available on site, at the Farmers Market and our great cafes and pubs entrants and their friends can make a day of it.

Many competitors add to the fun of the day by dressing up in crazy costumes, jigsaw-inspired or otherwise. Puzzling Pandas, UN ‘Piece’ Keepers, Purple Puzzlers, Buzz Lightyear and Woody have all been seen puzzling in Willunga.

Prestigious German jigsaw company Ravensburger sponsors speed puzzling worldwide and once again will provide their gorgeous, precise puzzles for the Willunga event. All the Teams complete the same 500-piece puzzle and all the solo puzzlers complete a different one. The time limit? Three hours!

Willunga Jigsaw Mania has now partnered with the Australian Jigsaw Puzzle Association and is a feature event in the national jigsaw calendar. The solo winner and winners of the pairs competition qualify to represent South Australia in the National titles which will be in Sydney later this year. Sponsor Mr Chocolate Travel chips in for their travel costs. And from the Nationals, world titles beckon.

Last year, Willunga’s fastest pair Marita Broberg and Kathryn Deutscher completed our 500- piece puzzle in 33:02 minutes, then blitzed the field at the 2022 National Titles in Melbourne to be crowned National Champions. Can they win back-to-back titles? Come along and see.

Rule Number One for Willunga Jigsaw Mania is that doing jigsaws is fun. Not everyone finishes their 500-piece puzzle in the allocated three hours, but they get to keep the jigsaw anyway and try again next year to better their time.

The truly manic moments of Willunga Jigsaw Mania is when Brian Dempsey shouts READY SET GO – contestants tear open the bags hiding the puzzles from sight and rip off the shrink wrap at frantic pace not to waste a single second. Teams will start at 10am and the Solos at 2pm.

Even if you are not ready to compete, come along and cheer on your friends, have a wine or two, a snack from our Food Truck and admire the new jigsaw art gallery and mega-puzzles completed by the Willunga Community in 2021 and 2022.

Willunga Jigsaw Mania is one of the four major fundraising events for the redevelopment of Willunga Recreation Park, a facility owned by the community for the community.

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