Visit the Golden Guitar and the Country Music Wax Museum while in Tamworth
To say that Tamworth is the heart of the country is not an exaggeration. The town of Tamworth, host to the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, is Australia's country music representative to the world. It's no accident that this town in Central NSW would carry that banner. Tamworth has been a quintessential Australian country town ever since its rough and tumble unruly beginnings.
When explorer John Oxley was traveling through the Peel River Valley just north of Tamworth in 1818, he noted that "No place in this world can offer more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale." Oxley's sentiments have been echoed repeatedly in the nearly 200 years since he uttered those words. While he may have envisioned a wonderful future for the region, he couldn't possibly have known what the future had in store for Tamworth.
The first squatters in the Tamworth area were quickly followed by the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) after it had been given a huge grant to develop the region in 1830. Four years later, they brought in the first batch of 6000 sheep. In 1850, Tamworth formally became a town. At that time, its population was just 252, but when gold was discovered in adjoining Nundle and Tamworth grew into the regional capital. By the end of the century, it had a railway line between Tamworth with Newcastle and it became referred to as 'The City of Light' when it became the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to have municipal electric street lights.
In the 1960s, Tamworth radio station 2TM started broadcasting a regular country music program called "Hoedown." Nobody anticipated how enormously popular that program would become, but by 1973, Tamworth was associated with country music throughout Australia and became the home of the annual Country Music Awards. This rapidly developed into what is now called the Australasian Country Music Festival, a 10 day annual country music extravaganza that is attended by a huge number of country music fans from all over Australia and the world.
Whether you're visiting Tamworth for the festival or not, you will want to take in some of the sights in the area. Apart from a visit to the Golden Guitar and the Wax Museum, where you can see the stars of country music's lifelike images, be sure and explore the rest of the area. Towns like Nundle, Bendemeer and Barraba and the surrounding countryside are what influenced Australia's country music. While you travel around the region, you'll get that country feeling. Who knows, you could even write your own hit country song!
Tamworth is not close to any of NSW's major cities, but it is extremely easy to get to, regardless of whether you're traveling by road, train or air. The city is used to having visitors, so it will be easy for you to obtain the ideal Tamworth accommodation for you. Whether you want to camp out like the initial settlers or live in the lap of luxury, you will find what you want in Tamworth.
When explorer John Oxley was traveling through the Peel River Valley just north of Tamworth in 1818, he noted that "No place in this world can offer more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale." Oxley's sentiments have been echoed repeatedly in the nearly 200 years since he uttered those words. While he may have envisioned a wonderful future for the region, he couldn't possibly have known what the future had in store for Tamworth.
The first squatters in the Tamworth area were quickly followed by the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) after it had been given a huge grant to develop the region in 1830. Four years later, they brought in the first batch of 6000 sheep. In 1850, Tamworth formally became a town. At that time, its population was just 252, but when gold was discovered in adjoining Nundle and Tamworth grew into the regional capital. By the end of the century, it had a railway line between Tamworth with Newcastle and it became referred to as 'The City of Light' when it became the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to have municipal electric street lights.
In the 1960s, Tamworth radio station 2TM started broadcasting a regular country music program called "Hoedown." Nobody anticipated how enormously popular that program would become, but by 1973, Tamworth was associated with country music throughout Australia and became the home of the annual Country Music Awards. This rapidly developed into what is now called the Australasian Country Music Festival, a 10 day annual country music extravaganza that is attended by a huge number of country music fans from all over Australia and the world.
Whether you're visiting Tamworth for the festival or not, you will want to take in some of the sights in the area. Apart from a visit to the Golden Guitar and the Wax Museum, where you can see the stars of country music's lifelike images, be sure and explore the rest of the area. Towns like Nundle, Bendemeer and Barraba and the surrounding countryside are what influenced Australia's country music. While you travel around the region, you'll get that country feeling. Who knows, you could even write your own hit country song!
Tamworth is not close to any of NSW's major cities, but it is extremely easy to get to, regardless of whether you're traveling by road, train or air. The city is used to having visitors, so it will be easy for you to obtain the ideal Tamworth accommodation for you. Whether you want to camp out like the initial settlers or live in the lap of luxury, you will find what you want in Tamworth.
