Gourmet food, fine wine and events – these are just three things that attract people to Wagga Wagga from all corners of the country.
Add the regular passing out parades at both the city’s Army Base (Kapooka) and the Air Force Base (Forest Hill) and it’s no wonder visitor numbers are continuing to climb.
Almost half of all visitors who spend a night in the Riverina Tourism Region stay over in Wagga Wagga. Accommodation takings in 2008 were estimated to be $24.5m, a huge increase of 17.5 percent compared with the previous 12 months.
Wagga Wagga is located close to some of the best snow skiing areas in Australia as well as to large lakes for boating and fishing enthusiasts
Popular with visitors are two of the city’s major festivals – the Food and Wine Festival held in March and the Jazz and Blues Festival held in September.
The yearly graduation ceremonies at Charles Sturt University also attract large numbers of people as do major sporting events, and theatre and art exhibitions.
The city also hosts southern NSW’s major sporting event – the autumn horse racing carnival. The highlight of the carnival is the running of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup on the first Friday of May.
Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area is the food bowl of Australia. The city boasts several notable restaurants and has an active theatre and arts community that regularly produces its own shows and musicals, as well as supporting visiting theatre productions.
