YOUNGSTERS across the Walgett shire have been exposed to a range of different sporting activities this week as part of the NSW government's Active Fest 2022 tour of regional NSW.

The Far West Active Fest concept was developed by the NSW Office of Sport, which organises the event in locations across the state, and not-for-profit sporting organisation Creative Community Concepts, which hosts the events, last year.

Creative Community Concepts General Manager Kyle Myers, one of the co-creators of the event said the idea was to improve youth engagement out in far west NSW.

"We wanted to bring kids out west activities they don't get to do every day, like colour runs and laser tag and little athletics," Mr Myers said.

"After the success of those programs last year, the Office of Sport wanted to run them again this year, and decided to open it up to LGAs who had gone through extended lockdown periods."

One of these LGAs was the Walgett shire with Walgett Shire Council's Manager of Community Development George McCormick approaching Mr Myers about bringing the program to a few of their communities.

Following consultations with the council, Mr Myers said they were able to organise three community events, each running for a couple of hours from 4-6pm between Tuesday 28 June and Thursday 30 June.

"Our first night was Tuesday in Collarenebri, where we did some laser tag, a colour run, little athletics, some sport activities, including badminton and league tag, while Ducky Dennis provided music for a bit of a festival atmosphere," he said.

ABOVE: The Collarenebri crowd embracing their competitive spirit in a game of tug-of-war. Image: Creative Community Concepts.

"I think there were close to 70 kids there and for the middle of June, when it's quite cold and a smaller community, we were really happy with the turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves."

According to Mr Myers, they had similar success at the Spider Brown Oval in Lightning Ridge on Wednesday night, with close to 90 kids turning up.

He said he was anticipating similar numbers for their Thursday event, which was held at the Ricky Walford Oval in Walgett.

Kids who attended a Far West event this year received free training gear just for turning up, with the chance to win even more sporting apparel on the day.

A free barbecue was also provided for participants on the day, which also included some mental health workshops for both adults and children, courtesy of the Black Dog Institute.

"The whole reason we're doing this is to give kids a taste of different sports," Mr Myers said.

ABOVE: A young girl from Lightning Ridge tries her hand at Tee-ball on Wednesday afternoon. Image: Creative Community Concepts.

"Everyone is Rugby League-mad out there but for them to have a go at something like soccer, badminton, or some novelty games, they might look at exploring something different.

"The main aim for us is to get more kids outdoors and doing things rather than just being at home on the PlayStation."