``Last year we had extraordinary entertainment. This year is better,'' said Jennifer Baldwin, president of the Picton Chamber of Commerce and co-ordinator of the event.

This year's festival has twice as many stallholders as last year, a sideshow alley, more categories in the busking competition, more activities at Picton Mall and a shuttle bus from parking at Victoria Park to the main township.

Minto singer and songwriter Aaron Culligan made it into the top 100 on Australian Idol this year and will perform a mix of covers and soft rock originals.

``I'll be playing a few of my originals that I've been working on for a while and possibly a few familiar covers to get the crowd on side. I'm also keen to see who else is playing in the area,'' he said.

Lauren Azar, 19, from Camden will perform with Michael Griggs at the festival and hopes to develop a fan base for their new band among locals.

``We've been working together just these last two months so it's good to have this outlet where we can show our music to our locals,'' she said. ``We're both very individual as well and we've done our own projects. I did a gig a few weeks ago for the World Masters Games at which I sang in the opening ceremony.''

Lauren described their music as alternative rock fusion, including covers of songs by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, No Doubt, Alanis Morisette, The Strokes and Jeff Buckley.

Other performers include Luke Koteras, the Luke O'Neill Trio, Tilly Street, Alex Stengl, Jemma Beech, the Picton Strings, Jeana Carmen, Turn 'n Point, Shes themorning and thenight, Smoke and Cinder and Roland Storm.

The Picton Music and Harvest Festival is on this Saturday from 9am till late in the Picton township. For more information, contact Jennifer on 46773331.