Orange City Council is pleased to welcome regional communities from across the state to Orange this weekend for the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW 2026 Tidy Towns Awards.
As the 2025 Overall Tidy Towns Winner, Orange will host the awards weekend from 16 to 18 October, with volunteers, councils, schools, businesses and community groups coming together to celebrate projects making a positive difference in communities across the state.
Orange Mayor Tony Mileto said Council was proud to welcome this year's finalists and showcase Orange to visitors from across regional NSW.
"It's an honour for Orange to host the Tidy Towns Awards after being named the Overall Tidy Towns Winner last year," Cr Mileto said.
The Experience Orange Expo has been nominated for an award in the 'Liveable Communities' category.
"These awards celebrate communities that take pride in where they live and the people who contribute their time, ideas and energy to making them better places.
"We're looking forward to sharing some of the great work happening in our city and learning from what other communities are achieving."
KAB NSW CEO Val Southam said the weekend was an opportunity to recognise the people behind these achievements.
"Across regional NSW, local people are giving their time and energy to projects that make a lasting difference to their communities," Ms Southam said.
"The Tidy Towns Awards give us a chance to recognise that commitment and share ideas that other communities can put into practice. We look forward to celebrating this year's finalists in Orange and seeing firsthand some of the initiatives that earned the city last year's overall title."
Bellingen, Coomba Park, Dungog, Leeton, Moss Vale, Parkes and Walcha are finalists for the 2026 Overall Tidy Towns Award, with the successful town to represent NSW at the 2027 Australian Tidy Towns Awards.
Orange is also in the running across a range of individual award categories, highlighting initiatives and individuals from across the community:
- Liveable Communities: Experience Orange Expo in Cook Park
- Heritage & Culture: Mulaa Giilang Exhibition
- Young Legends: Nature Playgroup
- Circular Economy: L-Bins at the Orange Regional Resource Recovery Centre
- Water Conservation and Protection: Wetlands projects by Council's Natural Resource Management team
- Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Ross Hill Wines
- Local Hero: Chris Gryllis
Cr Mileto said the nominations reflected the breadth of work being undertaken by Council, local organisations and community members.
"It's fantastic to see Orange represented across so many different categories," Cr Mileto said.
The weekend program includes community case study presentations, visits to local projects and attractions, before the 2026 Tidy Towns Award winners are announced on Saturday 17 October.
The awards are hosted by Keep Australia Beautiful NSW with support from Orange City Council, the NSW Environment Protection Authority, Snowy Hydro and JR Richards & Sons.
