The Frost Over Barraba festival is a chance to hone charcoal sketch skills, make jewellery, try yupo painting or just check out the new silo art lit up at night.

There's something to suit all tastes and levels of ability, committee member Emily Bowman said.

"It's an important event on Barraba's calendar and the community really gets behind it," she said.

"Barraba has established itself as a cultural arts hub, with the Fuller Gallery and Claypan and the newly renovated Barraba Historical Museum along with the Barraba Silo artwork.

"There's loads to see and do."

The three-day festival has been going for about 40 years and is a known gathering place for artists.

A competition at the gallery has received more than 500 submissions already and organisers expect a few thousand people to turn up.

The exhibition opens Thursday night with workshops on all weekend.

And, the much-loved lantern parade is back again where visitors can make their own to enter.

The addition of the 40-metre high silo artwork The Water Diviner is expected to bring more people to town than usual, Ms Bowman said.

"It takes a few months of planning to put this together, we've got a fantastic committee that work together on it for a few months behind the scenes," she said.

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"We see a lot of visitors to town but this year particularly with the Barraba silo artwork having been finalised there's an added attraction for visitors."

This year the Art of Air Cooled vintage Volkswagen meet is expected to tickle the fancy of car lovers and will run alongside markets.

There's photography and sculpture, a bike show, markets and spectacular fireworks display.

The Frost Over Barraba festival is held in Barraba on July 4 to 7 with a number of workshops and events available to book at frostoverbarraba.org.au.

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