THE 2018 edition of Harrow’s Tussock Jumpers Bachelor and Spinster Ball went off without incident, but organisers would have liked a bigger crowd.

The volunteer-run event has raised more than $250,000 for the town in its 19-year history.

Ballan band Function headlined the event.

Organising committee member Paul Penrose said about 400 people attended the two-day festival on the banks of the Glenelg River.

“We didn’t have any troubles at all, but we were down on the crowd, which was frustrating,” he said.

“We had about 500 people last year, and that was less than normal. We generally have around 600 people.”

Mr Penrose said he was unsure why numbers had dropped the past two years.

“I talked to some people from South Australia a few weeks ago and they said there were no balls left in the state at all, so maybe they’re a dying thing,” he said.

“There wouldn’t be a lot left in Victoria either.

“Maybe they’re just getting harder to run – I don’t know.

“It is January, so perhaps some people don’t have a lot of money left after New Year’s Eve.

“Apart from the numbers though, it was a really smooth-running event.

“We didn’t have any arrests, fights or anything like that, the band was really good, the bar and everything else flowed well, and there were not too many people in the first aid tent.

“It just would have been nice to have an extra one or two hundred people.”

Mr Penrose said the money from this year’s event would likely go to the town’s Johnny Mullagh park.

Committee president Toby Irving told the Mail-Times during the week numbers had decreased in recent years and the committee would assess the success of this year’s event to determine whether it would return.