Co-ordinator Luke Wilkinson puts tickets on sale for Orange's Winter Jazz Festival

Coordinator Luke Wilkinson said it's "full steam ahead" for the festival thanks to Orange360's allocation of $20,000 in seed funding from the Newcrest-Orange360 Regional Tourism Event Fund, announced on Wednesday.

"The guts of it is, you've got to be able to pay the bands," Mr Wilkinson said, explaining securing the talent for the inaugural festival goes along way to ensuring its viability and its future.

"If you run a festival, even if you only sell 100 tickets, you've still got to pay the bands.

"Once you set up a program, if you say we're a bit worried about selling tickets, let's cancel a few bands - that puts everyone in two minds.

"You've got to go in full steam ahead."

The seed funding for the Jazz Festival, which will feature events at Orange pubs and eateries starting on Friday June 3, is part of a $150,000 grant from the Cadia Legacy Fund to Orange360.

Orange360 general manager Caddie Marshall said the Newcrest Tourism Fund will support established festivals and help promote new ones, adding the jazz festival had dove-tailed nicely with Wednesday's announcement.

"Collectively, our region's major festivals contribute more than $20 million to our visitor economy all of which are inspired, developed and delivered by volunteer community organisations," Ms Marshall said.

She explained the funding will be available in three tiers with the first offering up to $20,000 to get events up and running.

The second tier offers grants up to $10,000 to help enhance and fine-tune events while the third tier is for marketing with the maximum grant $3000.

"Important to the fund's success will be the spread of events across the calendar year so we are not always attempting to grow tourism in a peak season and that new events will ideally showcase our region's diverse assets, attractions and experiences across the entire region including our villages."

The Winter Jazz Festival will be launched on March 14.

Cadia Valley Operations (Cadia) general manager Aaron Brannigan said the funding was part of Newcrest's commitment to supporting the region and its communities.

"Through the Cadia Legacy Fund we will invest in a range of events across the tourism industry to drive the visitor economy, strengthening business demand and jobs across the region," he said.

"The fund will build on the success of the region's events and presents the opportunity to expand tourism offerings and position the Orange region as one of the premier tourist destinations in Australia. By collaborating with Orange360, we will ensure a coordinated approach and extend our support to as many events as possible."

Newcrest Orange360 Regional Tourism Event Fund applications cab be lodged via the Newcrest website with two more rounds of funding available this financial year.

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