The Queensland Reds will return to Roma on the 11th and 12th of February for the Santos Festival of Rugby, with a crowd of over 3000 expected to descend on the south-west town.
The two-day event will comprise of the Roma Sevens competition and a pre-season game between the Queensland Reds and the New South Wales Waratahs.
Friday afternoon will mark the start of the sevens competition, which will continue on Saturday morning before finals in the afternoon.
The Reds and Waratahs will kick off at 7:30pm on Saturday evening.
With six trophies up for grabs and a prize pool of $20,000, the Roma Sevens is dubbed "one of the best and most highly anticipated" competitions in the country.
18 men's and 16 women's teams will compete over the two days, with teams from Brisbane, Toowoomba, Rockhampton and Gladstone making the trip, as well as a number of local teams from the south-west area.
There will also be a number of elite teams competing for the trophies, including both men's and women's teams from the University of Queensland, Darling Downs representative sides and teams from the Island Breeze Fijian club based in Brisbane.
The competition will take place between the Roma Echidna's oval and the Roma Cities Rugby League grounds.
Roma Rugby Union Club President Richard Bright said preparation for the event was in full swing.
"We're expecting full capacity which is three to three-and-a-half thousand people," he said.
"A two and half seat grandstand will go up in the next few weeks on the Eastern side of the rugby union oval.
"Obviously the club house and terraces on the Western side will be the other main viewing area."
The annual Sportsmen's lunch will kick off the event, with appearances by Wallabies legend Tim Horan as master of ceremony and Wallabies coach Dave Rennie as guest speaker.
Mr Bright said the weekend was like a reunion of sorts for ex-players from the club returning from Brisbane, Toowoomba and Sydney for the weekend.
The event is expected to be a huge couple of days for Roma, not just for the rugby community but also in terms of accomodation and hospitality.
"The town is essentially booked out, motels are booked out and a lot of teams are staying with friends who live here around town too," Mr Bright said.
"The Roma sevens is traditionally a big weekend that we do usually in the first weekend of February, but then to add on the Reds and Waratahs game, it's just taken it to another level with the amount of people that will be here.
"It will be a big economic boost for Roma."
There will also be post-game entertainment on both nights of the competition from bands Chocolate Starfish and Furnace and the Fundamentals.
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