The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

, in Tamworth,

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. The festival is the second biggest country music festival in the world, after the CMA Music Festival in

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, USA. The festival is a celebration of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

culture and heritage, in particular the national

Australian country music Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodeling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, the Australian bush bal ...

scene, with numerous concerts and live performances at various venues. During the festival the city of Tamworth comes alive with visitors from all across the country and worldwide. The festival has many times been counted among the world's top ten

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

s. In 2007, ''

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'' rated it as number 8 of the "World's Coolest Music Festivals". The enormous number of visitors during the

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doubles the city's population and brings significant tourism and economic benefits to the region. Visitor numbers for the 2012 festival were estimated at 50,000. The mass number of visitors means that accommodation throughout the area is consistently booked out for this period up to 12 months in advance, with many visitors camping in caravans, camper vans and tents by the city's riverside and numerous other temporary camping sites throughout the region.

Media coverage

A significant amount of media coverage is given locally and national, in the printed media and also with the three big commercial networks the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, Channel 7 and

Ten Network Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

having broadcast news and segments from the festival. There is also national radio coverage from stations including ABC Country, ABC Radio and KIX Country.

History

When the Tamworth Country Music Festival commenced is often debated. In 1968 the then Tamworth branch of the Modern Country Music Association, now the Capital Country Music Association (CCMA), began a talent quest on the

long weekend in January. The talent quest, now known as the CCMA National Talent Quest, is considered a major influence in what was to become the festival in January 1973 with the first staging, by local radio station, of the Australasian Country Music Awards (aka the Golden Guitar Awards for its distinctive "golden guitar" trophy) as part of its Country Music Capital promotion which had commenced in 1969. The festival expanded to many other activities, with events running back throughout the week before the Awards and National Talent Quest staged on what was then the Australia Day long weekend. These events included Bluegrass Championships, Hands of Fame inductions, the Roll of Renown, rodeo events, Coca-Cola Concerts,

Toyota Star Maker Quest is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, Tamworth Songwriters' Association Awards, busking in Peel Street, the Cavalcade and industry seminars among other events. These events were promoted to highlight Australian Country Music and to draw attention to the climax of the 10 days, the Golden Guitar Awards. Radio 2TM ran the awards until 1993 when they were passed on to the newly formed national industry organisation, the

Country Music Association of Australia The Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) is an association formed in 1992 that promotes and represents the Australian country music industry. As the peak national industry body, its activities include organisation, promotion and stagin ...

(CMAA). The staging of the Golden Guitar Awards moved from Sunday to the Saturday night in the last weekend of the festival in late January as the Australia Day public holiday was moved to float with the 26 January date.

Impact of COVID-19

As late as 15 June 2020, the 2021 Festival was set to go ahead. On 8 September 2020 Tamworth Regional Councillors voted to suspend all Tamworth Regional Council run events at the 2021 Toyota Country Music Festival, effectively cancelling the 49th Tamworth Festival. It is the first time in its history the annual event has been cancelled. The annual

Golden Guitar Awards The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wales ...

were planned to proceed via online

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

. In announcing the decision Festival Manager Barry Harley said "Unfortunately, like so many others in our situation, we have had to surrender to the challenges COVID has placed on us and make the difficult decision to suspend TCMF2021." Tamworth Region Mayor Col Murray also stated that in making the decision council had "the health and safety of our community, our fans, the artists, volunteers, local businesses, staff, and the wider country music industry front of mind." As of 9 September 2020, organisers were confident the 2022 event would proceed as usual, enabling the 50th anniversary of the event to be celebrated. However, on 7 January 2022, the NSW government announced the reintrodction of some COVID control "safety measures". As a result, the festival was postponed to April 2022.

Music

Styles

Since the festival's original commencement the following music genres have been performed:

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

, bluegrass,

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal ...

, folk, urban country, alternative country,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

, Western swing, country rock'n'roll,

yodelling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from th ...

, rock,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and World music. The festival has diversified in styles of country as the genre country music itself has broadened, additionally other styles of music are played at the festival.

Festival awards

Golden Guitar Awards

The CMAA's awards night ceremony is called the Country Music Awards of Australia, in which winning artists are presented with Golden Guitar Award trophies that are miniature replicas of the Golden Guitar statue. These awards are highly coveted in the Australian country music industry. The presentation of awards is regarded as the pinnacle event of the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Other awards and talent quests

* Toyota Star Maker Quest, Toyota Star Maker * Tamworth Songwriters' Association Awards * Telstra Road to Discovery * No Holds Barred Fiddle Contest * Telstra Queen of Country Music Quest * Aristocrat Junior and Senior Entertainer of The Year * Kids Talent Quest * Country Entertainer of the Year

Main and Peel streets

During the music festival the main shopping street (Peel Street) is restricted to pedestrians only. In this area, buskers are required to register with the local council. There is also a competition between these registered buskers to find the festival's best busker. There has been complaint and controversy about the use of very loud PA systems against acoustic performances. Council officers are known to walk the street with decibel meters during performances. Since January is a summer month with daytime temperatures regularly hovering around 38 °C, it is during the nighttime that the city really comes to life, with people heading down town to drink, dance and generally party while numerous bands play up and down the main street.

Venues

During the festival over 2500 acts use up to 120 venues. The largest venue used is the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre which has a capacity of 5100 people.

Festival Countdown

The Festival Countdown is the "pre-festival" festival. During this week before the festival many country music fans come to Tamworth to set up camp and enjoy the city, while there are also dozens of concerts scheduled during this week.

Attractions

Besides the music the festival has many other country music attractions for visitors. These include the Big Golden Guitar, Country Music Wax Museum, Hands of Fame Park and the National Guitar Museum of successful country music artists. Additionally fine arts, crafts, street performers and markets attract large crowds in Peel St. The Country Music Cavalcade on the last Saturday of the festival attracts large crowds to Peel Street, with many businesses and musicians participating with floats in the parade.

Preparation

During the buildup prior to the commencement of celebrations, the Tamworth Regional Council takes steps to beautify and secure the city, performing such works as: * Erecting signs to direct traffic away from hot spots, and reduce congestion. * Pre-Festival advertising and promotional campaigns. * Extensive road maintenance. * Blocking traffic from four blocks of Peel Street, the central shopping district. * Co-ordinating and tidying the expansive

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

grounds. * Co-ordinating with the CMAA (

) in connection with events. * Co-ordination with

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

and security bodies.

Artist lineups

The Tamworth Country Music Festival attracts many country music, bluegrass, rock and folk musicians to the city each year. Performers perform at various venues in the city. The festival attracts over 800 different artists which perform over 5000 shows. Artists who perform regularly at the festival include

Kasey Chambers Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier. She is the daughter of fellow musicians, Diane and Bill Chambers, and the younger sister of musician and producer, Nash Chambers. ...

, Troy Cassar-Daley,

Lee Kernaghan Lee Kernaghan OAM (born 15 April 1964) is an Australian country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. Kernaghan has won four ARIA Awards and three APRA Awards, and has sold over two million albums, and as of 2021, has won 38 Golden Guitars at ...

, John Williamson and Colin Buchanan. Other's include Melinda Schneider and

Beccy Cole Beccy Cole (born Rebecca Diane Thompson, 27 October 1972), also known as Beccy Sturtzel, Rebecca Diane Albeck and Bec O'Donovan, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released ten studio albums, wi ...

. The late

Slim Dusty Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars, ...

was also a regular. The festival is noted for being the launching platform of Keith Urban and Kasey Chambers' careers. The Australian country icon

Smoky Dawson Smoky Dawson AM, MBE (19 March 191313 February 2008), born as Herbert Henry Brown, was an Australian Country, Western and folk performer, radio star, entertainer, and icon. He was widely touted as Australia's first singing cowboy complete w ...

was also a regular and has a grill called "Smoky's Grill" named in his honour. The prominence of the festival is such that artists from outside Australia are frequent performers at Tamworth. New Zealand performers in particular are regular attendees, including the likes of Suzanne Prentice,

Patsy Riggir Patsy Evelyn Ann Riggir (born 6 October 1945) is a New Zealand country and western singer and songwriter. She was a regular performer on the New Zealand Country and Western television show '' That's Country'', had her own show ''Patsy Riggir Co ...

, Brendan Dugan, Dusty Spittle, and

The Warratahs The Warratahs are a band from Wellington, New Zealand. Band members Early line-ups * Barry Saunders (vocals/guitar) * Wayne Mason (keyboards/vocals) * Nik Brown (fiddle) * John Donahue (bass) * Marty Jorgensen (drums) * Clinton Brown (b ...

. Many hundreds of musicians played at the 2012 festival at clubs, pubs and in Peel St, busking. Some of the better known artists that performed at the 2012 festival or have performed in the past include:

References

External links

Official websiteTamworth Country Music website2014 Tamworth Country Music Festival Radio Special
from Ben Sorensen's REAL Country
2015 Tamworth Country Music Festival Radio Special
from Ben Sorensen's REAL Country
2015 Tamworth Country Music Festival Guide2016 Tamworth Country Music Festival Radio Special - Part 1
from Ben Sorensen's REAL Country
2016 Tamworth Country Music Festival Radio Special - Part 2
from Ben Sorensen's REAL Country
List of Golden Guitar winnersThe History of 2TM
{{Coord, 31, 05, S, 150, 55, E, type:city(37120)_region:AU-NSW, display=title Folk festivals in Australia Music festivals established in 1972 Busking venues Tamworth, New South Wales Country music festivals in Australia 1972 establishments in Australia Bluegrass festivals Festivals in New South Wales