The weather might have been freezing cold but the reception was warm as more than 1000 people from all over NSW attended one of the biggest sporting events Orange has hosted, on the weekend.
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The NSW touch football Regional Junior Championships attracted hundreds of players and officials and their families to the city and to a frosty Waratah Sports Ground.
Visitors told the Central Western Daily they were impressed by the city's wineries, restaurants, shops and natural attractions including Mount Canobolas and many vowed to return for a holiday.
'But just not in July,' was the common response as they shivered over two days.
Justin and Dallas Welsh came from Macksville on the north coast, where it was a sunny 18 degrees on Sunday.
"Our kids have never seen snow so it was good for them to see a little bit of it coming down," Mrs Welsh said.
The family have turned the event into a two-week road trip covering the Blue Mountains, Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo.
"We've made a two-week holiday out of it," she said.
Mrs Welsh said they would spend the next two days in Orange to see more.
Cameron and Tanya White and their family travelled from Nambucca Heads.
They went to Mount Canobolas and toured the apple orchard area.
"It's a very pretty place," Mrs White said.
We certainly would like to come back and see more. It's a lovely town.
- Dee Phelps, Turramurra
"I was down here for seasonal fruit picking 15 years ago. It had none of this then," Mr White said pointing to the north Orange area.
Russell Mooney of Baulkham Hills said his group visited wineries, restaurants, the Botanic Gardens and the Hotel Canobolas. He said they were keen to come back.
"It's an easy town to get around," he said.
Annabelle Regan of Blacktown said she enjoyed a winery visit and would return. "We went out to a winery, Philip Shaw's, that was really nice," she said.
Dee Phelps of Turramurra said she was pleased by the quality of food.
"We certainly would like to come back and see more. It's a lovely town," she said.
Gab Rose of Cronulla said it was her first visit to Orange.
"We stayed at the Duntryleague guest house which was beautiful. I went to the Hotel Canobolas. I would like to come back, but not in July. I would like to see the restaurants," she said.
Orange360 general manager Caddie Marshall said the weekend had boosted many sectors of the economy.
"It's not just the pubs and clubs, it was other areas, the shops, they bought fuel, many will have bought groceries. There were definitely people out on Friday who weren't from Orange who were spending," she said.
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