The Tamworth Country Music Festival

Treat the family to an experience they’ll never forget and head to Tamworth for the Tamworth Country Music Festival, held in January each year.

Enjoy buskers, line dancers and Australia’s biggest country music stars at the Toyota Tamworth Country Music Festival.

The largest country music festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the annual event is a cornerstone celebration and must-experience outing for every age group. The seven-day festival will bring together hundreds of country music artists and thousands of fans. The best bit? The majority of events are free, making for a perfect (and affordable) family getaway.

The past, present and future of country music

The world-famous event has launched the careers of artists like Keith Urban, Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daley and Lee Kernaghan, and this year will celebrate the past, present and future of country music.

Hundreds of artists will perform across a number of venues in the city, with headline shows by some of country music’s big-name stars, including Adam Brand and Travis Collins, sure to excite festival-goers.

Family-friendly

Totally family-friendly, the festival is always an unforgettable live music experience. It offers a mix of music genres, from traditional to blues, roots, bluegrass and more. But if country music isn’t your thing, there’s plenty to keep every member of your crew entertained. Buskers, street performers, line dancers, street art and market stalls will pepper Peel Street, and there’s fun to be had in the festival’s huge family zone with carnival rides, show bags and sideshow-alley games.

The Tamworth Country Music Festival’s newest event is Tamworth Cavalcade – Community Saturday in the Park, with showcase stands, market stalls, growers markets and live performances.

The Toyota Country Music Festival Tamworth is Australia’s largest music festival and one of the top 10 music festivals in the world.

Read: The best things to do in Tamworth after you’ve done the Country Music Festival

The 10-day Toyota Country Music Festival Tamworth attracts more than 55,000 visitors who flock into town to see more than 700 performers perform 2600 shows across 120 venues.

Experience the buzz of Peel St during the day, which is alive with buskers and market stalls, and then pull on your cowboy boots and boot-scoot your way to enjoy free outdoor concerts headlined by the industry’s biggest names every night. For country music fans there’s also the chance to meet with your favourite artists in the lively Fanzone precinct The Regional Australia Bank Family Zone is full of kid-friendly concerts and rides to suit all ages, including a 20-metre ferris wheel, an atmospheric side show alley, dodgem cars, bungy trampoline and jumping castle.

Country music’s night of nights is the Country Music Awards of Australia (the Toyota Golden Guitar Awards). There’s nothing quite like joining the throngs to watch country music’s brightest stars walk the red carpet, take the stage as presenters and performers, and maybe join the ranks of the more than 400 winners since 1973.

Key features

BBQ areas
Yes

Help desk
Yes

Restaurants
Yes

Guided tours
Yes

Wheelchair accessible
Yes

Daily shows
Yes

Kids rides
Yes

Parenting rooms
Yes

Play

The Regional Australia Bank Family Zone is an area dedicated to family fun with loads of rides to suit all ages.

Family-friendly concerts dedicated to kids, as well as 10 days and nights of FREE Concerts at Toyota Park and Fanzone!

You can also spend hours in Peel Street listening to the talented buskers and taking in the amazing atmosphere the festival has to offer!

Kids only

Tamworth Regional Playground

Marsupial Park & Adventure Playground

Family Zone

Fun for all

Over 400 buskers

Street performers

Markets

10 nights of free family-friendly concerts in Toyota Park

Street stages

Grown ups

Bars

Pubs

Clubs across Tamworth

Getting to the Tamworth Country Music Festival

Tamworth city is at the junction of the New England and Oxley Highways and lies 100 kilometres from the Tamworth Regional Council’s northern boundary and about 90 kilometres from the southeastern tip of the region.

Drive

Tamworth is an easy five-hour drive from Sydney. The Hunter Expressway enables easier travel to and from the region including a shortened three-hour trip from Newcastle. See a Sydney to Tamworth road map.

Tamworth is a seven-hour drive from Brisbane. See a Brisbane to Tamworth road map.

Fly

Tamworth Regional Airport is the largest of the regional airports in Australia. It is serviced by three airlines (Qantas, Virgin Australia and Fly Corporate), offering flights to and from Sydney and Brisbane.

Tamworth Regional Airport has a cafe, airline lounge access, car hire service desks, an ATM and Wi-Fi. Short- and long-term parking is available adjacent to the terminal.

The Tamworth CBD is about 10 minutes’ drive from the airport. Taxis can be arranged on board your flight or when you arrive at the terminal.

For more information, head to the Airport‘s website.

Train and bus

There are daily train and bus services to Tamworth, both interstate and from across the region. Tamworth Railway Station is only a couple of minutes’ walk from the CBD.

For more information on train and bus services and timetables, visit Transport NSW.