The collaboration between the Harbour Street Jazz Festival and the inaugural Outside Art festival next year will draw many visitors to the Waitaki district, Tourism Waitaki says.
The third annual Harbour St Jazz Festival and Outside Art 2015, a festival of visual arts, will both be held in Oamaru over Otago Anniversary Weekend next year.
Outside Art 2015 creative adviser Alice Lake-Hammond said the primary objective of the festival was to bring the arts outside, to make them more visible and accessible to the widest possible audience.
The Outside Art 2015 programme, which is still in development, will balance community participation with amateur and professional arts by offering events with a local, regional and national flavour.
''Even though it's still under development, the potential of it is so exciting,'' Ms Lake-Hammond said.
''It's a bit of a blank canvas at the moment. Who knows what it could turn into.''
Ms Lake-Hammond and fellow creative adviser Sue McLean would like to involve the community as much as possible.
''We're looking at running a photographic competition and we'd also like to bind everything together with an artist trail, so it's not just about introducing new art to the community, but also putting a focus on the local art scene,'' she said.
The idea of an art festival had been ''bubbling away'' for a few months, with fundraising efforts starting earlier this year.
Harbour Street Jazz Festival co-ordinator Julie Barclay said she was thrilled they could collaborate with Outside Art next year.
''That's so amazing we can cross market; it's just going to be so much better,'' Mrs Barclay said.
Building on the success of the past two jazz festivals, the 2015 festival weekend will include workshops, demonstrations of various instruments, and dance and entertainment throughout the main street and Victorian Precinct.
The Harbour Street Jazz Festival had wide appeal and a growing reputation, Mrs Barclay said.
Tourism Waitaki marketing manager Ian Elliott said it would be a ''very special weekend for the lovers of live jazz and visual arts''.
''Having both of these festivals taking place in Oamaru on Anniversary Weekend will make a fantastic drawcard for local people and visitors to the Waitaki region,'' Mr Elliott said.
