After the 2019 Wangaratta Jazz Festival was cancelled, with hopes it could return 12 months later, the council was on the lookout for a replacement major event.

A Hitch to the Sticks, a three-day music festival, was last night named as that event and the recipient of $60,000 in council funding to make it happen, following a unanimous decision at a special council meeting.

This will be the third time the festival has been held in Wangaratta, after high-profile acts Jebediah, Killing Heidi and Kate Cebrano played in October 2018.

Community wellbeing director Jaime Chubb said A Hitch to the Sticks, run by Wangaratta-raised musician Dallas Frasca, went above and beyond the other five applicants when it came to promoting the region.

She said it was about "bringing up people from Melbourne to our region to celebrate all that is great about here and to do so with the drawcard of significant music artists in a great location" and "opening it up for our community to experience those kind of music events that wouldn't normally happen here".

"One thing (Frasca) is incredibly passionate about is our region having access to high-quality music events, but also our local people having the ability to play on stage in front of their local community and have development opportunities as young musicians," Ms Chubb said. 

"The actual artists will be locked in very soon and the lineup will be announced."

A Hitch to the Sticks will have the option of receiving $40,000 to run the event again in 2020, but on a different weekend if the jazz festival is able to return.

Frasca and business partner Renee Delahunty said they were honoured to fill in for the jazz festival.

"Regional areas often miss out on the amazing original live music Australia has to offer on the touring circuit, so we are so excited to show off the special community the Wangaratta region is," they said.

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