We went to Tamworth for the country music festival. This is our first time at the festival although we’ve wanted to come for the last 10 years or so but due to work commitments we were never able to make it. Finally got here. We’ve been staying at the riverside camping area (with a few thousand other vans, buses and motorhomes and tents!) and we’ve been having a great time! The music has been really good and we’ve seen some terrific performers. The first week was the lead up to the festival and it was a lot of fun with not too many people so it was easy to get into venues, pubs etc. The festival started the second week we were there, and the crowds were much bigger with so much going on, so the pubs and venues were much busier and you need to get there early to get a seat. Some of the pubs in town changed their menus for the festival, along with the prices and the quality of the food, and generally this was not good. One place that kept to its original menu and served really good food was Joe Maguire’s pub – if you are ever in Tamworth, check this pub out. It really is one of the best food places in town.
We went to 2 concerts while in Tamworth (as in, we paid to go!) – both of them showcasing young people. The first one was the Young Guns Concert which was performances by mainly 16-18 year olds who have attended the country music college, and the second was the Telstra Road to Tamworth grand final featuring the finalists from the Australia wide country music talent search. Both of these were excellent and there are some very talented young singer/songwriters coming up – I think the country music industry is in safe hands. There were heaps of free stuff going on too – all the pubs/clubs had free entertainment with some excellent performers and of course there were buskers everywhere. There were Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton tributes, quite a few doing Johnny Cash, yodellers (a few really great one’s), bush poets, and every type of country music you could think of. There are a lot of talented people out there. Of course there are also some really bad ones who think they are good!
We left Tamworth on the Friday (Australia Day) as we were a bit Tamworth’d out! Plus we needed some sleep! Where we stayed was really busy with lots of traffic coming and going and on the Wednesday and Thursday the crowd coming in the for long weekend started arriving so it got even worse! It was also really hot in Tamworth so we decided to leave early and head for Glen Innes, 200km north of Tamworth, which, being at a higher altitude, is a cooler climate.