Broken Hill High School’s class of 1974-1979 celebrated its 50th anniversary over the first weekend of October, with organiser Denise Higgins describing the event as “very emotional”.

The 1974 class was the first year the local high school was split, with half of organiser Denise Higgin’s friends attending the newly established Willyama High School.

“A lot of my friends went to Willyama and it was one of those things where you didn't have much contact with them after that, because back in the day there were over 30,000 people living in Broken Hill,” Ms Higgins said.

Talks of the reunion began on Facebook, with past-students deciding to hold both schools' reunions together.

“I saw it on Facebook and asked if Willyama would like to join with us and do it together," Ms Higgins said.

The event organisers were Denise Higgins, Brenda Watkins, Gaye Archibald, Dale Coombe, Alan Coombe and David Fuller.

The reunion took place over three days, beginning with a cocktail night on Friday, a tour of the students' former high school and a dinner on Saturday, and lunch on Sunday.

“There were lots of people that we hadn't seen for 30 or 40 years; it was a very emotional night,” Ms Higgins said.

Past students travelled from Adelaide, Mildura, and as far as Perth to attend the weekend’s events.

“I live in Griffith, so it was in an eight-hour trip for me, but it was just amazing. The comment which really got to everybody was that we didn't realise we needed this reunion until we had it,” she said.

“These people have known you for such a long time – some of them since you were at primary school – and were such a big part of you growing up”.

A raffle was held to raise funds for the event, organised by David Fuller, with leftover funds being directed to the high school.