Since 2013, Christmas has been coming to Cowra early and this year is set to be no different.
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The Cowra Christmas Street Festival, which started life as the Christmas Night Markets, has attracted thousands of residents and visitors alike and has become one of Cowra's destination events, according to Cowra Tourism.
Cowra Tourism Manager, Belinda Virgo, said the festival was a surprise success early on and has gone from strength to strength.
"I think in 2013, the event really took us by surprise in terms of the community involvement and the participation," she said.
"When we first initially pitched the idea of what was then the Night Markets, we anticipated around about 1000 attendees to come along to the event. We were overcome... when we received probably five to six thousand people"
Attendee numbers have remained steady throughout the years, with the event attracting more than 5000 people each year based on food sales, as well as a consistent number of stalls.
"There is a lot of repeat [stalls], which just goes to show you the success of the event, stallholders want to come back again," Ms Virgo said.
Ms Virgo said, from a Tourism perspective, it's great to see a higher number of visitors to the festival.
"We have seen an increase of people coming from Canberra and from around the region and staying overnight, which is wonderful," she said.
"It has also grown in the sense of people bringing their friends and relatives home to attend the event."
Events and Marketing Manager, Kurt Overzet, said Tourism will continue to focus on shopping locally and increasing the entertainment.
"Encouraging people to get out and about and go into the local retailers and support them, especially during such a difficult year," he said.
Cowra Tourism would like to thank the community and event partners Cowra Council, the Cowra Business Chamber and the Cowra Information and Neighbourhood Centre for their support.
