Orange City Council welcomes NSW Government's Regional Events Acceleration Fund launch

The program is set to provide organisations like councils or sporting bodies with extra funding to secure, stage or enhance major events and, in turn, help showcase regional centres on national and international scales.

Aboriginal Land Councils and not-for-profits are also among organisations eligible to apply for grants, which are set at a minimum of $100,000 to help secure marquee events and up to $200,000 to enhance those already established.

It's still very early days for the program but Orange City Council welcomed the move as it continues its commitment to secure and develop major events in the city, which provide undeniable benefits across a number of sectors.

"Orange City Council welcomes the new grants program and staff will be looking very closely at the grant criteria," Council communications officer Allan Reeder said.

"Wherever possible staff give a high priority to looking for sources of funding from other tiers of government, rather than ratepayers' funds."

Established, large-scale events like the Orange Wine Festival and FOOD Week could benefit from the program, while A Day On The Green is also expected to continue being hosted at Heifer Station after the second edition was cancelled late last year.

Eastern Suburbs are once again expected to bring a Shute Shield game to Orange in May while it could help draw other major events to the city like those from past years, like the Beach Boys' show at Wade Park in 2017.

"The new grants program looks like it also will be potentially helpful to the organisations around the region which are already staging major events, such as FOOD Week, Wine Festival, Canowindra Balloons and the Elvis Festival," Mr Reeder said.

There's long-been desire to try and draw other, elite level men's or women's sporting events to the city however the debate surrounding Orange's capability to do so in terms of facilities still rages.

Particularly as Mudgee prepares to host the NRL's Charity Shield this weekend and then a regular-season game later this year, with Bathurst and Dubbo also doing the latter as well.

While major events are drawcards, smaller-scale events like the Future Tunes Concerts - the next one is Friday - help provide economical boosts as well.

"Through sponsoring small scale events such as the Future Tunes Concerts, the Council is looking to produce flow-on benefits for a range of local businesses," Mr Reeder said.

"This extra support could help the potential viability of even larger events, such as hosting a concert by touring performers or sports teams."

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