Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-eastern region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Situated on the Peel River within the local government area of the

Tamworth Regional Council Tamworth Regional Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the New England (Australia), New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The area under administration is located adjacent to the New England Highway an ...

, it is the largest and most populated city in the region, with a population of 43,874 in 2021, making it the third largest inland city in New South Wales (after

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

and

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

). Tamworth is from the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

border and is located almost midway between

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The city is known as the "First Town of Lights", being the first place in Australia to use electric street lights in 1888. Tamworth is also famous as the "Country Music Capital of Australia" and "Australia's answer to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

", annually hosting the

Tamworth Country Music Festival 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, in Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, New South Wales. The f ...

in late January; the second-biggest country music festival in the world after Nashville. The city is recognised as the National Equine Capital of Australia because of the high number of equine events held in the city and the construction of the world-class

Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) is a multi building and arena complex that was designed for equine usage. It has two indoor arenas, stabling, plus an education and training building, which is located on the New England ...

, the biggest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

History

The

Kamilaroi The Gamilaroi, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous Australians, Indi ...

Gamilaroi The Gamilaroi, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Austr ...

('G' and 'K' can be pronounced the same) people, from whose language comes the word "

budgerigar The budgerigar ( ; ''Melopsittacus undulatus''), also known as the common parakeet, shell parakeet or budgie ( ), is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot native to Australia. Naturally the species is green and yellow with black, scallop ...

", inhabited the area before European contact. In 1818,

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

passed through the Peel Valley and commented, "it would be impossible to find a finer or more luxuriant country than its waters...No place in this world can afford more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale". In 1831, the first

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

s and

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

s were formed, and in the same year, the

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo; ) is a public-listed Australian company that, as of 2018, owns and operates feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's land ...

was granted a lease of of land at Goonoo Goonoo, south of the present location of Tamworth, extending to present-day Calala. In the 1830s, a company town began to develop on the Peel's southwest bank, the present site of

West Tamworth West Tamworth is a suburb of Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia, in the city's west. It is between South Tamworth and Taminda (Tamworth Industrial Area). It is an important commercial and residential area of Tamworth. ...

. In 1850, a public town was gazetted on the opposite side of the river from the existing settlement. This town became the main town, called "Tamworth" after

Tamworth, Staffordshire Tamworth (, ) is a market town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Staffordshire, England, north-east of Birmingham. The town borders North Warwickshire to the east and south, Lichfield District, Lichfield to the north, south- ...

, represented at the time in parliament by

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

. The town prospered, and was reached by the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in 1878. The first streetlights used in Australia were commercially owned in Waratah Tasmania in 1886, but on 9 November 1888, Tamworth became the first location in Australia to have electric street lighting powered by a municipally owned power station, giving the town the title of "First Town of Light".

Gaol history

The first record of correctional facilities being established in Tamworth was on 17 December 1864 when the local Police Magistrate was appointed as the Visiting Justice at the Tamworth Gaol. A gaoler and sheriff were appointed in 1868. At the commencement of 1920, there were 11 prisoners detained. During that year, 201 prisoners were received with 183 discharged leaving 29 in prison by 31 December 1920. Almost 20 per cent of the prisoners were aged under 21 years. The Tamworth Gaol ceased to exist on 25 March 1943, and this was ratified by a proclamation from 8 April 1943. Prior to its opening as an adult male correctional centre in 1991, the facility (known variously as the Tamworth Institution for Boys, the Tamworth Boys' Home, and Endeavour House) was a male juvenile justice centre that pre–dated the establishment of the Kariong Youth Correctional Centre which opened in September 1991.

Timeline

* 1818 – Explorer

passes through the area on his exploration mission. Names the river that now runs through the town: Peel River, after British Prime Minister

. * 1831 – First sheep and cattle stations, namely Joseph Brown's 'Wallamoul' and William Dangar's 'Waldoo'. The exploring expedition led by Major Mitchell visited 'Wallamoul' in December 1831 on its way to the north-west. * 1834 – 6000 sheep of the Australian Agriculture Company were the first to be brought to the Tamworth region. * 1851 – The white population of the village of Tamworth was 254. * 1852 – John Barnes built the Royal Oak Hotel. * 1861 – Population 543 * 1866 – Tamworth Mechanics' Institute opened. * 1882 – Tamworth railway station opened. * 1883 – Tamworth base hospital opened. * 1888 – Power station opened and enables the beginning of electric street lighting. The first electric streetlights in Australia. * 1918 – A pedestal is unveiled as a memorial to the discovery of Tamworth district. * 1926 – An anchor from the HM survey ship Sealark is erected on the pedestal. *1935 – Radio 2TM began broadcasting. Tamworth's first radio station. * 1946 – Proclaimed a town. * 1947 – East-West Airlines was established in Tamworth, flying Tamworth to Sydney. * 1947 – Institution for Boys home for criminal youth opened. * 1973 – The first Australasian Country Music Festival was hosted in Tamworth by radio station 2TM, which has led to the extraordinary success of the Tamworth Country Music Festival that is held every year in Summer, at the end of January, a celebration that runs continuously for 11 days. * 1988 – A country music icon, the tall

Golden Guitar The Big Golden Guitar is one of the many "big" attractions that can be found around Australia. Located in Tamworth, New South Wales, the monument is one of the best-known points of interest in New England. It is also a major attraction duri ...

is erected as a symbol of the town's country music roots. * 1990s – The Local Council embarks on a successful campaign of urban and streetscape renewal, including the greening of Peel Street. * 1999 –

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre Tamworth Regional Entertainment Conference Centre (TRECC) is an Australia, Australian arena, located approximately 6 km south of the Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth Central Business District, in the suburb of Hillvue, New South Wales, H ...

is opened. * 2004 – A new local government area, Tamworth Regional Council, is formed from Tamworth town, Manilla Shire and parts of Parry, Nundle and

Barraba Barraba is a town in the New England region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Barraba Shire local government area, but most of this, including Barraba, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. On ...

Shires. * 2006 – In December the Tamworth Regional Council voted 6 to 3 against an offer from the Federal Government to take part in a one-year trial rural refugee resettlement programme; the majority of these

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s would be

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

ese escaping

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in their homeland. Mayor of Tamworth, James Treloar, argued that the refugees being resettled were potentially diseased and criminal. The decision resulted in national and international media attention on the town. The public outrage unleashed by his comments and the summary decision to reject the refugees forced a reversal of the bill one month later, and Tamworth took part in the resettling program. * 2008 – The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre opened in September. * 2016 – Tamworth hosted the annual

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Syd ...

rugby league match at Scully Park Regional Sporting Precinct. * 2020 – Tamworth became the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

Temporary Training and Isolation facility During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Geography

Tamworth is located on the western side of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

, on the banks of the Peel River, about north of Sydney on the

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, Queensland, Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland, at its northern end to Hexham, New South Wales, Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, ...

, and inland from

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...

on the

Oxley Highway Oxley Highway is a rural highway in New South Wales, Australia, linking Nevertire, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Tamworth, and Walcha to Port Macquarie, on the coast of the Tasman Sea. It was named to commemorate John Oxley, the first European t ...

. The city is situated at a narrow point on the Peel River floodplain, nestled at the base of the Wentworth Mounds, a spur of the

Moonbi Range The Moonbi Range, a mountain range that is part of the Great Dividing Range, is located in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The range is located roughly north east of the city of Tamworth situated at the bottom of the ...

, where the Northwest Slopes rise to the

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

. The elevation is around AHD. The Peel River runs southeast to northwest through Tamworth. The main city centre is on the northeast bank, between the river and the Wentworth Mounds, which rise to heights of , towering over the city. The southwest bank is much flatter, and the city's suburbs sprawl to the south. Water for residents and the town's industry is supplied by

Chaffey Dam Chaffey Dam is a minor ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with an uncontrolled ''morning glory'' spillway across the Peel River, located upstream of the city of Tamworth, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Th ...

, south east of the city. Urban Tamworth occupies an area of as of 2016. The Tamworth Regional Council area encompasses the suburbs, towns, villages and rural localities of Appleby, Attunga, Banoon, Barraba (part), Barry, Bective, Bendemeer, Bithramere, Borah Creek, Bowling Alley Point, Bundarra (part), Calala, Crawney (part), Daruka, Duncans Creek, Dungowan, Duri, East Tamworth, Garoo, Garthowen, Gidley, Goonoo Goonoo, Gowrie, Gulf Creek (part), Halls Creek, Hallsville, Hanging Rock, Hillvue, Ironbark, Kentucky (part), Kingswood, Klori, Kootingal, Limbri, Lindesay, Longarm, Loomberah, Manilla, Mayvale, Moonbi, Moore Creek, Mulla Creek, Namoi River, Nemingha, New Mexico, Niangala (part), North Tamworth, Nundle, Ogunbil, Oxley Vale, Piallamore, Red Hill, Retreat, Rushes Creek, Somerton, South Tamworth, Taminda, Tamworth, Thirloene, Timbumburi, Tintinhull, Upper Horton (part), Upper Manilla, Wallamore, Warrabah, Warral, Watsons Creek, Weabonga, West Tamworth, Westdale, Wimborne, Winton, Wongo Creek, Woodsreef, Woolbrook (part) and Woolomin.

Climate

Tamworth has a warm temperate climate with hot summers and relatively cool winters. It is included in the rainfall records and weather forecast region of the North West Slopes or the North West Slopes and Plains division of the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government that is responsible for providing Weather forecasting, weather forecasts and Meteorology, meteorological services to Australia a ...

forecasts. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

scheme, Tamworth has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa''). Temperatures exceed on around 20–25 days a year, but over the past few years have exceeded this number substantially. The average maximum temperature in summer is , and the average minimum approximately , the mean annual rainfall is . Winters are mild and sometimes even warm by day, and cool to cold by night. Daytime temperatures average around and occasionally make it to 20, and overnight minima average . On 12 January 2013, Tamworth recorded a new record maximum of , eclipsing the previous record by 0.5 of a degree, but only a year later, on 3 January 2014, this record was broken by almost 3 degrees, with a new record maximum of . This record has since been broken with a maximum of recorded, during a significant heatwave, on 12 February 2017.

Rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

is experienced all year round, with summer storms providing occasional heavy downpours. Tamworth's rainy season, in the early months of a new year (particularly January) can result in major

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

is very rare in Tamworth, but does occasionally occur in the surrounding higher villages such as Nundle (although far from reliable).

Frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

s are frequent and often severe. On 28 and 29 November 2008, Tamworth,

Gunnedah Gunnedah () is a town in north-central New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 8,338. Gunnedah is situated within the Liver ...

, and the surrounding area received torrential rain that caused severe flooding and led to the area being declared a natural disaster area.

Demographics

According to th
2021 census
of Population, 43,874 people were in Tamworth urban area. * Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 14.1% of the population. * About 82.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were the Philippines 1.2%, England 1.1%, India 1.1%, Vietnam 0.8%, and New Zealand 0.7%. * Around 85.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.0%, Vietnamese 0.8%, Tagalog 0.6%, Punjabi 0.5%, and Nepali 0.5%. * The most common responses for religion were no religion 32.2%, Anglican 22.0%, and Catholic 21.9%. Around 89.5% of Tamworth were working in 2021. At the 2021 census, the industry sector in Tamworth with the most employees was Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) with 6.1% of the workforce. Population for Tamworth Urban Area.

Suburbs

City *

Calala Calala is a suburb of the Northern New South Wales city of Tamworth, administered by Tamworth Regional Council. In the 2016 census, Calala had a population of 3,927. The suburb is 4.5 km southeast of the CBD of Tamworth and is connecte ...

* East Tamworth * Hills Plains * Hillvue * Kingswood * Nemingha *

North Tamworth North Tamworth is a suburb of Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia, in the city's north. It is on the northerly side of the Peel River between the suburbs of East Tamworth and Oxley Vale, New South Wales, Oxley Vale. ...

* Oxley Vale *

South Tamworth South Tamworth is a suburb of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia and is situated south from the cities central business district. It is a largely residential suburb and is a mixture of both new housing estates and well established estates. So ...

* Taminda (Tamworth Industrial Area) * Tamworth Central Business District * Westdale *

Satellite suburbs * Daruka Estate * Duri * Hallsville * Kootingal * Moore Creek * Piallamore *

Tintinhull Tintinhull is a village and civil parish near Yeovil, south west of Ilchester, in Somerset, England. The village is close to the A303. It is on the Fosse Way. In addition to a school of around 100 pupils, Tintinhull has a church, park, swim ...

* Dungowan

Central business district

The Tamworth central business district is the town centre and is located north of the Peel River. It is primarily a business area of Tamworth, with many shops, restaurants, car dealerships, as well as shopping centres and public facilities. The Tamworth Regional Council has its headquarters in Peel Street at Ray Walsh House. Bicentennial Park and number one cricket oval are also located in the suburb.

Economy

Tamworth is primarily a service centre for the New England and North West regions, providing services to a population of some 200,000 plus people from the Tamworth region and satellite areas. The retail industry is the biggest employer, followed by manufacturing and health services. The industries with the most number of businesses in order are property and business services, agriculture and construction, closely followed by finance and insurance services. With a diverse economy agriculture, education, transport and aviation are major industries.

Aviation

Aviation has been a significant part of the local economy, partly due to the town's exceptionally suitable flying weather, with the former East West Airlines and Eastern Airlines having had service and maintenance bases at the Tamworth Airport. Qantaslink currently conducts heavy maintenance on its DHC8-400 fleet at its Tamworth base. The Tamworth airport is home to the former Bae systems flight training academy complex, capable of accommodating and training up to 150 students at any time. New operators are currently being sought following the withdrawal of Bae from military flight training in 2020. The Australasian Pacific Aeronautical College and New England Institute of TAFE in the town also provide aeronautical training.

Agriculture

Agriculture is an important industry in the Tamworth economy. An estimated of land are used for the agricultural industry, with an economic gross value of $75 million contributing to the Tamworth economy. Important agricultural activities include beef, sheep, grain, dairy, poultry and lucerne. Other agricultural areas include alpaca, buffalo, berry, fish, goat, hydroponic, nut, olive, and specialised game fowl farming, as well as wineries. Offices for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources are located in Tamworth. AELEC

Equine and sporting horse events

Tamworth is recognised nationally as the sporting horse capital of Australia and is the headquarters of three major equine associations: CHA, ABCRA and AQHA. Many of the Australia's most important equine events take place in Tamworth. Various international, national and state championships are regularly held in the Tamworth district, as well as Australia's richest sporting horse event; the NCHA Futurity. Additionally, the ABCRA National Finals Rodeo occurs during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Equine sports and their participation is very high in the Tamworth region amongst residents. The strength of the equine and sporting horse industry has resulted in hundreds of businesses and horse studs being located in the town's region. Titles held in the town include: ABCRA National Finals and Junior National Finals, Australian

Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to . ...

National Championships and Barrel Race Super Challenge, and the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity among many other events. These events were hosted at the Tamworth Showgrounds in the suburb of Taminda; however, they are now hosted at the new Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre as of 2008. The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre has been built by the

at a cost of $30 million. Construction of stage I began in June 2007 and was completed in October 2008. The centre has an indoor arena seating 3,360 people, stables for over 478 horses, a covered stud livestock-selling area with seating for 660 people and truck and camping facilities for 195 vehicles. Associations for

Appaloosa The Appaloosa is an American horse breed best known for its colorful spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's co ...

s horses, all breeds, Western Performance,

Australian Stock Horse The Australian Stock Horse (or Stockhorse), has been especially bred for Australian conditions. It is a hardy breed of horse noted for endurance, agility, and good temperament. Its ancestry dates to the arrival of the first horses in Australia, ...

Pony Club Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to educating youth about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over thirty countries worldwide. Overview Pony clubs began in England in 1929 by Harry Faudel-Phillips to ...

s and cutting horses all use the centre.

Retail

Tamworth is the largest and main retail centre for the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and

North West Slopes The North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, refers generally to the area west of the Northern Tablelands, to the north of the Central West region and to the east of the Far West region. Despite its name, the region is in north- ...

regions of

. Retail accounts for 22.5% of the working population and is the largest employer in the town. Peel Street is the major retail and shopping area of Tamworth and is located in the Tamworth central business district. Three blocks of Peel St were refurbished over different stages during the 1990s. There are a few hundred shops in the main street, as well as restaurants, street cafés and banks. These include a large

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

department store (formerly

Grace Bros Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they wer ...

). There are many shopping centres located in Tamworth, with the majority being located in the CBD, but many are also located in various neighbourhood suburbs. Shopping centres include: *Tamworth town Plaza is located in the CBD, with 42 shops including Coles and

Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...

. *Centrepoint Shopping Centre is a shopping centre that was completed by Christmas 2008 behind the Tamworth Town Hall, in the CBD between the old town library and behind the speciality shops in the main street Peel St. The Centre contains a supermarket, as well as a Cinema Complex that contains five cinemas and a performing arts centre/theatre known as the Capitol Theatre that also doubles as a cinema, six restaurants, a food court and 40 speciality shops. *The Atrium, formerly known as the Tamworth Arcade, is located in the CBD with entrances from Peel St and Kable Avenue. *Eastpoint Shopping Centre Tamworth, located in the CBD on Peel St *Tamworth Shopping World is located in

along Bridge Street, with over 50 speciality shops, including a food court *Northgate Shopping Centre is situated in

; Coles is located inside the centre, as well as 10 speciality shops. The centre has been recently redeveloped. *Southgate Shopping Centre in

is home to Coles and other speciality shops. The centre was the first mall to be built in Tamworth. In 2012 Southgate undertook a redevelopment and facelift. *Tamworth Homespace is located out at the Longyard. It is a bulk goods complex. *Calala Court shopping complex, located in

, was opened in 2007. It has 10 speciality shops and a supermarket.

Tourism

Tourism is a significant industry in the Tamworth area, worth $AUD239 million annually as at December 2014, with by far the most significant draw being the annual

, the biggest event of its type in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Other attractions include Tamworth's museums and galleries. Nearby destinations include several country towns, including

, popular for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

, Nundle, and

Quirindi Quirindi ( or ) is a small town on the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Liverpool Plains Shire. At the , Quirindi had a population of 2,602. It is the nearest link to Gunnedah, New South Wales, Gunnedah to the northw ...

Country Music Festival

Tamworth is best known for hosting the annual

(TCMF) over a period of 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January, sometimes including Australia Day. TCMF is the second biggest country music festival in the world. It features thousands of Australian and international country music artists performing live shows 24 hours a day. Each year, an estimated 100,000 people pass through Tamworth for the festival. Around 70,000 stay for a substantial duration, with some camping along the banks of the Peel River. On the last Saturday of each TCMF, the Toyota Country Music Cavalcade is held in Peel Street (the main street), featuring many country music artists. The festival culminates in the prestigious

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 Wale ...

. Tamworth otherwise honours country music by being home to the ' Big Golden Guitar', the Wax Museum, and the Hands of Fame Park.

Vehicle manufacturing

In the 1990s,

Ansair Ansair was an Australian bus bodybuilder owned by Ansett Transport Industries and later the Clifford Corporation. History Ansair was founded by Reg Ansett in 1945 at Tullamarine, to make bodies for his Ansett Pioneer coaches, as well as ma ...

established a bus bodying factory in Tamworth to body

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

and

Volvo buses The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

for

Brisbane Transport Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for d ...

and the

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

Jakab Industries Jakab Industries was an Australian coachbuilder in Tamworth, New South Wales. History Jakab Industries built its first bus body in July 1973, a Ford R226. It mainly made bodies for buses for the defence forces, but also built some for commercia ...

also bodied buses, ambulances and postal vans between 1973 and 2002.

Venues

Tamworth Capitol Theatre

The Tamworth Capitol Theatre is fitted with a 405-seat auditorium with two levels of tiered seating, professional theatre lighting, a full sound system, dressing rooms, an orchestra pit, and fly tower, and is fully air conditioned. It is a multifunctional space for live theatre and cinema productions. It has significantly added to the existing cultural facilities in the region and provides a forum for live theatre, including dance, drama, music, educational activities, conferences and community events. During the Country Music Festival, The Capitol Theatre is host to three independent shows per day.

Tamworth Town Hall

The Tamworth Town Hall, located in the Tamworth Central Business District, is a historical building used for events, conferences and concerts. Additionally, it is commonly used for career expos, antique shows, meetings and conventions. It was built in 1934, has a proscenium stage, a gallery and a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 1074 people.

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre is located in the suburb of Hillvue. It is a multipurpose centre with a

of 5,100, and is the biggest of its kind outside the New South Wales and south-east Queensland metropolitan areas.

Health

Tamworth in 2020 was dubbed Australia's "Fattest" for having the highest rate of obesity by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 69.6% of residents undertook low or no level of exercise (top 10 highest rate of inactivity) 20.2% smoked tobacco (the highest rate in the state) and 19.6% consumed alcohol at a high risk. 23.5% of adults have high blood pressure. There has been media criticism for the amount of fast food establishments in Tamworth with the town receiving its fourth McDonalds. Hungry Jacks is also looking to add another restaurant. The

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

approved the restaurants because of its potential to create jobs.

Education

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

* University of Newcastle *TAFE New England *

Calrossy Anglican School The Calrossy Anglican School (Calrossy) is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys and girls and incorporates a primary and preschool. Calrossy is located in East Tamworth, a suburb of Tamworth, a city in the New England reg ...

Carinya Christian School Carinya Christian School is a multi-campus independent Christian comprehensive co-educational early learning, primary, secondary day school located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The school caters for approximately ...

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School The Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School is a government boys' academically selective and specialist secondary day and boarding school, located in Calala, a small suburb of Tamworth, in the New England region of New South Wales, Austra ...

*Hillvue Public School *Liberty College * McCarthy Catholic College *Nemingha Public School *

Oxley High School Oxley High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in North Tamworth, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1968, the school enrolled approximately 970 stude ...

* Peel High School *St Nicholas Catholic Primary School *St Edwards Catholic Primary School *St Joseph's Catholic Primary School *

Tamworth Public School Tamworth Public School is situated in East Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. Over 900 students attend the primary school and it is the oldest school in Tamworth, being established in 1855. The school's mottos are ''Aim High'' and ''Care, Co ...

Tamworth High School Tamworth High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Willis Street, South Tamworth, a suburb of the Tamworth Regional Council local government area in the New England region of New South W ...

*Tamworth South Public School *Tamworth West Public School *Westdale Public School

Sport

Sport is a very important part of Tamworth culture, and over 50 different sports and recreational pursuits are participated in by the community. Many major annual and one-off sporting events are held in the town because of the wide range of facilities and venues available. There are over 180 sporting clubs in the Tamworth region and the region has several strong competitions, including basketball,

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and

Aussie rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kic ...

. As a result, the town has produced many sportspeople, including test cricketers, Olympic shooters and hockey players, and many players in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. The Northern Inland Academy of Sport is one important institution in the town that has helped talented sportspeople to establish themselves "on and off the field". It was established in 1992 and has a wide range of community support. During the Queen's Birthday long weekend in June, Tamworth hosts a Baseball tournament with teams competing from all over NSW and QLD.

Facilities

Located within the town are an athletic track, Australian football grounds, badminton courts, baseball diamonds, indoor basketball courts, indoor and outdoor cricket pitches, croquet turf, cycling (velodrome and BMX track), two 18-hole golf courses, a gymnastic centre, water bases hockey fields, the

used for equine sports, eleven bowling turfs, a kart-racing track, a speedway track and a motocross track, netball courts: twelve asphalt courts, 30 grass courts and an indoor synthetic court, an inline hockey court, rugby league and union fields (nine senior fields and seven junior fields). Shooting sports have a 3 x 25 m standard pistol range, 1 x 10m air pistol range, 1 x 100m free and action pistol range; 1 x 50m service pistol range and 1 x 100m rifle range. Soccer fields include six senior fields, 8 junior fields and an indoor standard court. Two international standard softball diamonds and ten competition standard diamonds are available. Squash courts, two Olympic swimming pools and one indoor pool, tennis courts (two hardcourts, 17 synthetic courts, 8 clay courts and one indoor synthetic court), two tenpin bowling centres, 16 touch football/Oztag fields, two indoor volleyball courts and three beach courts, as well as 2 water polo competition level pools are located there. There is a awesome mountain bike track, owned and maintained by the Tamworth Council. It has a range of difficulty levels, including easy, intermediate and difficult. The park features a Jump Line with a range of jumps and build up speed through the course. The more difficult trails are further up the hill, Pha Pha Pindari, Kamikaze and Top Loader are the black downhill tracks. While Secret Valley, Goanna Crawl, Skyline and North Hill are the intermidate tech trails. While Yellow Brick Road, Hillside and Southpark are the green flowy trails. The Oakburn Park motorsports complex built in 1996, is located 12 kilometres northwest of the city. It contains speedway and motcocross circuits and the

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

track has hosted the New South Wales Championship on six occasions (most recently in December 2024) and the Australian Under-21 Championship four times.

Senior sports teams

Tamworth Music Conservatorium - panoramio

Culture and recreation

Performing arts

* CAPERS is a show hosted at

every two years to showcase the talent of students (both primary and high school) from the North-West region public schools. * The Northwest Dance Festival has been held various times in Tamworth at the

. This includes a wide variety of dances from all the public schools in the region. * The Tamworth Eisteddfod is held annually in May and June, with Speech and Drama, Debating, Music and Dance sections at the Tamworth Town Hall. * The Tamworth Musical Society is an important part of the Tamworth culture, and has performed musicals such as "Grease", "Westside Story", and "Les Misérables" in October–November 2007 at the Tamworth Capitol Theatre. * The Tamworth Regional Conservatorium of Music is another important part of the performing arts scene in Tamworth. Over 1000 students learn many instruments from experienced and qualified teachers. It is the largest regional conservatorium in the state behind Wollongong, with students ranging in age from four to 75 years old, learning over 21 different instruments.

Parks

The many important parks in the town of Tamworth include Anzac Park, Bicentennial Park and The Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens. The botanical gardens were established in 1995 and are run by the Tamworth Regional Council. Bicentennial Park is characterised by its stagnant waters and high population of wild

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

. The gardens cover an area of , of which has been developed. The gardens conserve the flora of the region, as well as include flora and plant displays from various parts of Australia and the world.

Heritage listings

Tamworth has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Fitzroy Street:

Tamworth Post Office The Tamworth Post Office is a Heritage register, State heritage-listed post office located on the corner of Fitzroy Street and Peel Street, Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth in the Tamworth Regional Council local government area of New South ...

* King George V Memorial Avenue (East): King George V Avenue of Memorial English Oaks * Main Northern railway: Peel River railway bridge * Main Northern railway:

Tamworth railway station Tamworth is a split-level railway station which serves the market town of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth, in Staffordshire, England. It is an interchange between two main lines: the Cross Country Route and the Trent Valley line, Trent Valley ...

* Marius Street (East):

Dominican Roman Catholic Convent The Dominican Roman Catholic Convent is a heritage-listed former convent located on Marius Street (East) in Tamworth, New South Wales in the state's New England region. It is also known as St Nicolas' Church. It was added to the New South Wale ...

* Peel Street (cnr):

Tamworth Peel Barracks The Tamworth Peel Barracks is a heritage-listed historic site located at 214 Peel Street, Tamworth, Tamworth Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by Tamworth Regional Council and was added to the New South Wales ...

The following buildings in Tamworth are listed on the now defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

: * Hospital Main Block, built 1883 * Lands Office, Fitzroy Street, built 1889 * Post Office, Victorian Classical style, designed by Colonial Architect

James Barnet James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890. Early life Barnet was born ...

, circa 1886 * Public School, Upper Street, built 1885

Museums

Tamworth Power Station Museum

Tamworth was the first town in Australia to light its streets by municipally generated electricity in 1888. A larger power station was established in 1923 at a site in Marius Street, East Tamworth due to the high demand of electricity and the main building was demolished in 1982. The Tamworth Power Station Museum's purpose is to tell the story of the town's role in the development of electric street lighting, from the early days of oil lamps in 1876 and gas lamps in 1882, through to the installation of the first electric lights in November 1888. The museum has one of Australia's largest collections of early 20th century electrical appliances.

Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum

The Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum holds more than 50 motorcycles spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s. The museum specialises in Ducati, Triumph, Honda, Velocette and Laverda. The museum holds an example of the limited edition MV Agusta F4 Serie Oro.

Churches

Since 2000, the Combined Churches of Tamworth have run a free to the public festival called "Lifefest" in Bicentennial Park. The event is run on a Saturday in July in conjunction with Fusion Tamworth and with the support of Tamworth Regional Council. The family day celebrates National Thanksgiving Day and involves various stalls with free food, drinks, games, and showbags, as well as a drama presentation, music performances, and displays from police, fire brigade and ambulance personnel; 2007 attracted a crowd of a few thousand to the festival in the park.

Media

Tamworth serves as the regional centre for media in the New England District. Much of the region's history is stored in its original form at th
Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive
– a volunteer organisation hosted by the Tamworth Regional Council – and their database is availabl
online
In 1970, the town (city hall, main street, swimming pool, Hoyts drive-in, and station) and region served as the setting for the ''Judy'' vignette in the 1971 film '' 3 to Go''.

Newspapers

*''

Northern Daily Leader The ''Northern Daily Leader'', previously published as ''The Tamworth Daily Observer'', ''The Daily Observer'' and ''The Tamworth Observer and Northern Advertiser'', is a daily newspaper produced in the city of Tamworth, New South Wales, Austra ...

'' is a long-running daily local paper (Monday to Saturday), with local and regional coverage, owned by Fairfax. *''Tamworth Times'' is a free weekly paper owned by Fairfax.

Television

Tamworth is served by three commercial and two public television services, each having their respective primary and multichannel services across the North West region: *

Seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

(formerly branded as

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as ''CBN (Australian TV station), CBN-8'' in Orange, New South Wales, Ora ...

and Prime Television), 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

7Bravo 7Bravo is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network under license from NBCUniversal International Networks on 15 January 2023. The channel contains programming from NBCUniversal's Americ ...

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

–

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

owned and operated channels. *

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

( NBN),

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History The la ...

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scr ...

–

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and 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 the five main free-to-air television ...

owned and operated channels. * 10 ( WIN Northern NSW),

10 Peach Comedy 10 Peach Comedy (set to rebrand as 10 Comedy in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture betwee ...

10 Bold Drama 10 Bold Drama (set to rebrand as 10 Drama in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and eve ...

Sky News Regional Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...

– (Owned by

WIN Corporation WIN Corporation is a private Australian media company, that owns assets including the WIN Television network, Crawford Productions and several local radio stations. The company is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. History Founding The WIN b ...

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

affiliated channels. *

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, ABC TV,

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

/ ABC Kids,

ABC Entertains ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...

, SBS,

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS V ...

SBS Food SBS Food (formerly Food Network) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first ...

SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent, annual films, art films and mainstream cinema and interviews with intern ...

SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins ...

and

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

Of the three main commercial networks: *''The

'' (formerly branded as

and Prime Television) airs a half-hour local

Seven News Seven News (stylised 7NEWS) is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in South Eveleigh, Sydney, while its flags ...

(formerly branded as Prime7 News and Prime News) bulletin for the North West at 6pm each weeknight. It is produced from a local newsroom in the city and broadcast from studios in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. *

airs ''NBN News'', a regional hour-long program including opt-outs for the North West, every night at 6pm. It is broadcast from studios in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city. *

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television stat ...

airs short local news updates throughout the day, broadcast from its

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

studios.

Subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

services are provided by

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

Radio

The

(ABC) operate and broadcast five radio stations: *

ABC New England North West ABC New England North West is an ABC Local Radio station based in Tamworth and broadcasting to the regions of New England, the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes in New South Wales. This includes the towns and cities of Armidale, Mor ...

648 AM / 99.1 FM – part of the

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

network *

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...

91.7 FM *

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

93.9 FM / 100.7 FM *

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

96.7 FM / 103.1 FM *

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

94.7 FM / 99.9 FM *2TM Tamworth 1287AM – Tamworth's first radio station *92.9FM *88.9fm New England Northwest 96.3fm Liverpool Plains Several other radio stations are based in the town, including

2TM TMFM 95.5 (formerly known and still licensed as 2TM) is an Australian commercial radio station based in Tamworth, New South Wales and is part of the Super Radio Network. The station operates from modern studios that are situated on Goonoo Goo ...

, general community station

88.9 FM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on FM broadcasting, FM frequency 88.9 MHz: Argentina * Radio 360 in Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos * Atalaya (radio station), Atalaya in Berazategui, Buenos Aires * Bella Italia (radio stat ...

, Christian community radio station

Radio Rhema Rhema Media (previously known as Rhema Broadcasting Group or RBG) is a Christianity, Christian media organisation in New Zealand. It owns radio networks Rhema (New Zealand), Rhema, Life FM (New Zealand), Life FM and Star (New Zealand), Star, and ...

89.7 FM, and hit music station FM 92.9. The community radio stations both broadcast from Bald Hill. FM 92.9 and 2TM are owned by the

Broadcast Operations Group Broadcast Operations Group is an Australian media company, operating radio stations across various centres across regional New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Branded as the Super Radio Network, stations carry one of two formats – a n ...

, branded as the "Super Radio Network".

Transport

Tamworth Airport Tamworth Airport is a regional airport serving Tamworth, a city in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is located from the town centre, on New Winton Road. The airport is owned and operated by the Tamworth Regional Council and is list ...

has daily flights to

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

with

QantasLink QantasLink is a full-service, Regional airline, regional brand of Australian flag carrier airline Qantas. As of 2024, QantasLink provides over 2,000 flights each week to 65 metropolitan, regional and remote destinations across Australia, as wel ...

, and previously by Virgin Australia. Regional carrier Fly Corporate, now known as Link Airways, began a regular service between Brisbane Airport, Brisbane and Tamworth on 31 October 2016.

is situated on the Main Northern railway line. Trains no longer continue all the way to the

border, but the town is still served by the NSW TrainLink New South Wales Xplorer, Xplorer service between Sydney and Armidale railway station, Armidale, where daily coaches continue to Tenterfield. Other NSW TrainLink coaches operate to Dubbo and Inverell. Until November 2009, Pacific National operated a regular fuel service from Sydney, carrying 30 million litres (6,600,000 imp gal; 7,900,000 US gal) of fuel a year to Tamworth and Dubbo. It was the last freight service to serve the town; in the 1980s, up to six trains a day ran. Tamworth was served by thrice-weekly bus services to Coffs Harbour and

by New England Coaches until 2021 because of coronavirus. Greyhound Australia stopped servicing Tamworth in 2016 citing unprofitable passenger loadings. Local services are provided by Tamworth Buslines who also provides interurban services to nearby Quirindi (Rt 428), Manila (Rt 443) and Bendemeer (Rt 444).

Sister cities

Tamworth has the following sister city, sister cities:

Attractions

* Calala Cottage * Endeavour Park (Marsupial Park) *

* Oxley Park Lookout * PowerStation Museum * Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens * Tamworth Regional Gallery * The Big Big Mac * Wax Museum

Military history

During World War II, Tamworth was the location of List of RAAF inland aircraft fuel depots, RAAF No.20 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).

Notable people

;Academic * Bronwyn Davies – Independent scholar and Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne; author *Stephen Kane, Stephen R Kane – Associate Professor of Planetary Astrophysics, University of California, Riverside *Warren Rodwell, Warren R Rodwell – University teacher, hostage survivor, lyricist ;Arts, entertainment and media * Peter Cousens – Actor * Mark Ferguson (news presenter), Mark Ferguson – TV newsreader * Belinda Giblin – Actress * Kylie Gillies – TV presenter, co-host * Pixie Jenkins – Musician * Ezra Lee (musician), Ezra Lee – Musician, singer, songwriter * Tony Martin (Australian actor), Tony Martin – Actor * Lawrie Minson – Musician, songwriter * Matt Moran – Chef, TV personality * Philip Quast – Actor, singer * Ivan Sen – Film director, writer * Rebecca Smart – Actress * Don Spencer – Musician, author, TV presenter * Felicity Urquhart – Singer, songwriter ;Military * Michael James Birchell – a soldier who died in the Vietnam War ;Politics * Mark Coulton – Politician; National Party of Australia, National Party member for the Division of Parkes * Kevin Humphries – Politician; National Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, NSW Legislative Assembly * Barnaby Joyce – Politician; Former leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia * Andrew Wilkie – Politician; independent federal member for the Division of Denison * Tony Windsor – Retired politician; independent member for the Division of New England ;Sport * Clive Barton – Skeet shooter * George Barton (sport shooter), George Barton – Shooter * David Brooks (rugby league), David Brooks – Rugby league player * Jamie Dwyer – Hockey player * Elton Flatley – Rugby union player * John Gleeson (cricketer), John Gleeson – Cricketer * Phil Graham (rugby league), Phil Graham – Rugby league player * Tom Green (footballer, born 2001), Tom Green – AFL footballer * Josh Hazlewood – Cricketer * Troy Hearfield – Soccer player * Mark Hensby – Golfer * Craig Jones (cricketer), Craig Jones – Cricketer * Nick Kay – Basketballer * Tom Learoyd-Lahrs – Rugby league player * Greg McNamara – Boxer * Ethan Parry – Rugby league player * Matt Parsons – Rugby league player * Shane Rodney – Rugby league player * Paddy Ryan (rugby union, born 1988), Paddy Ryan – Rugby union player * Matthew Smith (field hockey), Matthew Smith – Hockey player * Emelyn Starr – Tennis player * Richard Swain – Rugby league player * Peter Taylor (rugby league), Peter Taylor – Rugby league player * Brad Tighe – Rugby league player * Alan Tongue – Rugby league player * Ross Warner (rugby league), Ross Warner – Rugby league player * Michael York (field hockey player), Michael York – Hockey player

References

External links

Tamworth Regional Council

Tourism Tamworth

Northern Daily Leader – Newspaper

Country Music Festival Page

Tamworth -VisitNSW.com

Tamworth, Australia statistics – ZhujiWorld.com
{{Authority control North West Slopes Populated places established in 1850 Tamworth, New South Wales, Towns in New England (New South Wales) Towns in New South Wales 1850 establishments in Australia es:Tamworth