Your chance to have a say on 2021 Orange Arts Festival

While the wine and food industries have formed bodies and created annual events that attract thousands of tourists, the arts has not.

"I've been talking with people in different areas of the arts - filmmakers, artisans making furniture and leather goods, artists - and they're all saying ... we should have a festival to celebrate the arts," said Mr Mickle, who was joined on Monday by members of the arts community to promote an open Orange Arts Festival meeting at The Hive on December 16 at 7pm.

"There is a lot of really good stuff produced here, and there should be an event that focuses on that and lets people engage.

"There is lots of potential and lots of options; maybe we pick a month and make it arts month, with workshops, market days, studio trails."

Part of the issue in getting everyone together, Mr Mickle said, was the vast breadth of the arts.

"If you look at the wine industry, it is professional; they collaborated and marketed and that collaborative effort put wind in their sails," he said. "The arts is so diverse, and it's always been a bit tricky to find common ground and a format."

Mr Mickle said the plan was to start small and build.

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