Orange Region Tourism general manager Caddie Marshall announced the festival on Friday and said 10 venues for the Saturday night bonfire spectacular had already been confirmed with more planned.

Ms Marshall said wine and food including barbecued meats and large paella dishes would be at each site.

“We want people to be able to see several other bonfires while they’re at another one,” she said.

“We only sent out the [details] on Monday and we’ve had 10 of them [venues] put their hands up already,” she said.

Ms Marshall said one winery, Nashdale Lane, would also have stargazing with an astrophysicist on hand to show people the night sky.

She said the three-day regional festival would start with a night market at Millthorpe on Friday, August 3.

On the Sunday pubs throughout the region with open fires will be offering “blazing Sunday pub lunches”.

“This year it is a pilot event, it’s about us testing the market,” she said.

Ms Marshall said the event was tied to a push to encourage more Chinese tourists to the Orange region as they were a growing market for Australian tourism.

“They love fire,” she said.

Ms Marshall said August was a key month for Chinese people to travel overseas.

“By 2026 25 per cent of our inbound tourists will be Chinese,” she said.

A delegation of Orange wineries will be heading to Hong Kong and China at the end of the month to launch an international marketing campaign focusing on Orange at the Vinexpo wine trade fair.

The trip was boosted with an announcement on Friday that the Orange Region Vignerons Association had received a federal government grant of $154,000 toward the campaign.

With dollar-for-dollar local support the campaign will cost $308,000.

Orange received the largest grant of five NSW regions confirmed for funding totalling $339,000 as part of the government’s International Wine Tourism Competitive Grants Program.

The assistant minister for agriculture and water resources Senator Anne Ruston said communities had proposed “exciting wine tourism projects” for their regions.

“It’s about growing the reputation of Australia’s food, wine and tourism experiences,” Senator Ruston said.

“Together with targeted marketing campaigns in China and the US the grants are creating a platform for the commercial success of our local brands and investing back into local jobs.”

Orange Region Vignerons Association president Justin Jarrett said the funding was compensation for a cut to the wine equalisation tax rebate for producers.

He said the delegation to China representing nine wineries would be spruiking both Orange wine and Orange as a travel destination.

Mr Jarrett said the campaign, including a video of Orange’s changing seasons for food and wine, would be on social media.

He said they would target both Chinese people living in China and those in Sydney.

Mr Jarrett said August was usually a quiet month for tourists and it was hoped the Winter Fire Festival could eventually expand into a month of celebrations.

Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said international tourism was valuable.

“It is important for the growth and success of our wine regions that we deepen engagement with international tourists and these successful projects will help attract more visitors,” he said.