Have Your Say On The Future Of The Tamworth Country Music Festival

30 December 2009: A comprehensive survey into making Tamworth’s annual Country Music Festival even more successful will be undertaken early next year to with local residents, visitors, entertainers and commercial interests among the groups being asked for an opinion.

Tamworth Mayor James Treloar said the survey would be the most far-reaching analysis of the Tamworth Country Music Festival’s achievements and long term aims since it began in the 1970’s. ``We want to grow the profile of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, bring more people and increase the profile of the Tamworth region, get more investment in the area and our community,’’ Mr Treloar said.

The Mayor stressed that some dissenting voices publicly claiming the Tamworth Country Music Festival was about to abandon its traditional country music roots in favour of a pop and rock culture were sadly out of touch. ``Tamworth is the Country Music Capital of Australia and we want to keep it that way,’’ he said. ``Promoting the Tamworth Country Music Festival as a generic music festival has never ever been spoken about, and won’t be.’’

Some preliminary surveys about the future Tamworth Country Music Festival have already been done but the more strategic aspects will start early in the New Year and be completed by the end of March.

The newly formed partnership around the strategic direction of the Tamworth Country Music Festival includes; Tamworth Regional Council, Tourism Tamworth, the Country Music Association of Australia and Events NSW. The partnership will use the survey as a blueprint for fine-tuning the Tamworth Country Music Festival’s long term objectives to ensure its viability as it closes in on 40 years of successfully staging - an event officially recognised as one of the top 10 festivals in the world.

The Mayor James Treloar said the survey (to be conducted by Peer Group Media), would be all embracing. ``We are collecting everyone’s information about the Tamworth Country Music Festival, including information about the music, the management, the events, the commercial activities, marketing and promotions.

``We want to hear from people telling us what is good and what is not so good about the Tamworth Country Music Festival. We also want to have a greater understanding of the expectations of visitors and residents of Tamworth. The information gathered will help us formulate the plans and any recommendations that might be made for the future. We’re trying to make sure everyone’s interests are aligned. The Tamworth Country Music Festival belongs to everyone and the industry and all stakeholders should be involved.’’

The survey is seen as a seminal step in the further development of the Tamworth Country Music Festival. It will be a blueprint to win new audiences, evolve new visitor markets, create new events and introduce a new generation of country music fans to the area.

For information on the development of the blueprint and to book a time with the consultants email; Rebel Thomson at r.thomson@tamworth.nsw.gov.au or tamworthfeedback@peergroupmedia.com.au.