Swings were empty, grassy areas open and the sound of playing and chattering muted.

Instead, the noise was coming from the performing arts centre as former X-factor contestant and ARIA chart topper Taylor Henderson busted out a collection of his own songs and those from Ed Sheeran to a 20-strong adoring crowd.

Mr Henderson said the performance, ahead of his show at the Orange Civic Theatre on Friday night, was a way to get involved with "the Orange crew".

"I've been in Orange since Sunday, been up here and checking out the town and thought I wanted to do something before my concert tomorrow," he said.

"I reached out to the school and said I'd be happy to get down and know the neighbourhood while I'm here instead of coming here, doing a show and leaving."

He said the crowd, which joined in on the vocals of several songs, were a "10/10".

Henderson, who finished third on the X-factor in 2010, regularly goes to schools to do mental health workshops and while he said they weren't able to fit in a workshop, the performance was a way to "have a bit of fun".

The tour, which includes Dubbo on Saturday night, was brought about after a flood of requests of social media for Henderson to play in Orange, and he decided to come and test the waters.

"I'm independent, when I used to be signed if I wanted to do a show I'd have to go through this and that and it would come back and say 'I don't think it's a good idea'. People said 'come to Orange, come to Orange', so I said to my manager we'd do it," he said.

He said he'd been to Sushi Train "every day", but had otherwise spent the time exploring Orange, with the city reminding him of his Victorian home town of Geelong.

"Everyone's just so lovely," he said.

His show is at the Orange Civic Theatre on Friday night.