Created by the group behind Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi, the project hopes to attract more tourists to the region and keep them here longer.

"It's a cultural tourism project that we hope will encourage a lot of people to visit the Snowy Valleys," Sculpture by the Sea Founding CEO & Artistic Director David Handley said.

Running from May 5 - 8, the 100 kilometre trail will feature 26 sculptures across Riverina towns including Adelong, Batlow, Tumbarumba, Tooma.

The trail is funded by $4 million grant from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund.

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Mr Handley said the project was devised in consultation with the Snowy Valleys Council, a Local Community Advisory Group and members of the wider community and has been in development for the past two years.

"It started off as an idea to have a major world class sculpture park somewhere in the Snowy Valleys," he said.

"When I spoke to locals about it, they were excited at the idea of having an outdoor sculpture collection.

"People told me they didn't want the collection just in one location, but across several towns in the area.

"So we listened to the locals and started to come up with a different concept. The end result was the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail."

The project is being delivered in three phases, with the first to officially open this week.

"By the end of June next year we will have between 35 - 40 sculptures in total," he said.

"So it will be one of the most significant public sculpture collections in Australia."

The trail features works by Australian and international artists and will be officially opend by NSW Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres on Thursday at the Courabyra Vineyard in Tumbarumba.

Over the four days there will also be a chance to meet some of the artists over lunch at the Courabyra Vineyard, and a series of free community events across the towns.

"We look forward to having hundreds of people in each town meeting the artists who have created the sculptures for their towns," Mr Handley said.

Mr Handley also thanked community members across the Snowy Valleys for preparing the local celebrations.

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