The Tamworth Country Music Festival continues to grow in popularity with country music fans all over the world. In 2012 it is estimated that over 50,000 attended the festival! It Kicks off at the Bicentennial Stage. and the festival is a sea of happy crowds, booths, tents, caravans, folding chairs, cowboy hats, boots and a lot of good spirit.

In 2002, the Tamworth Regional Council extended the event by adding a “countdown period” of one week before the Festival proper, to give people more time to enjoy this unique country music experience. The Festival now has more than 2,500 individual events including concerts, bush poetry, record launches, seminars, and exhibits. At the new Equine Centre, rodeos and bull riding have become part of the festivities. The festival permeates every aspect of life in Tamworth. From the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre to clubs, theaters, halls and parks, one can take his pick of every sort of country music, much of it for free. Country music artists of all shapes, sizes and looks are all over the Festival, some fantastic, others terrible, but fun to watch nonetheless. There are solo artists, groups, bands, young ones, oldies, the reserved ones and the out-and-out performers, each one with his own music to share. An aboriginal country rock band could be performing not far from an old yodeler and, a bit farther on, a teenage crooner with a flashy guitar, all from different parts of this huge continent. While the Festival is going on, Tamworth closes three city blocks to traffic, and lining up the entire length are buskers, or street performers, many of whom have become familiar faces through the years.

There are many other shows to see, like the Toyota Star Maker, a talent search, which was the launching pad to stardom of artists like Lee Kernaghan, Keith Urban and Beccy Cole. From the 75 year old War Memorial Town Hall, where the Buttercup Open House is held, to the pubs and clubs it's 10 days of endless music.

The Festival is not devoid of its social responsibilities. The Queensland Regional Council used the 2011 event to prime a flood relief fund with $10,000, soliciting contributions from the large crowd of attendees. During the evening, the biggest names in country music joined together to re-record the classic Beatles track “Help”. The recording was released as a digital download with all proceeds of the sale going to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Fund.

Activities are already heating up for the 2013 Festival which will be held on January 18 - 27. This will be the 41st year that the event will be staged. The Festival will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Bicentennial Park with the official ceremony and the raising of the Country Music flag.

Once again, more than anything else, the Tamworth Country Music Festival will stand out as the perfect showcase of the hospitality, camaraderie and exuberant spirit that uniquely characterizes the Australian.