Tamworth

Tamworth in New South Wales gives you music, history, and outdoor adventures. Stand next to the 12-meter-tall Big Golden Guitar near the highway entrance, a symbol of the city’s country music fame. Visit the Powerstation Museum to see where Australia’s first electric streetlights began operating in 1888. Walk through Bicentennial Park’s playgrounds and shaded picnic areas, or follow the trail up to Oxley Scenic Lookout to see the Peel River winding below. Every January, the Tamworth Country Music Festival fills streets with live bands, pop-up stages, and crowds celebrating with cowboy hats and boots.

January’s Tamworth Country Music Festival

For 10 days each January, Tamworth hosts one of the world’s largest country music festivals. More than 2,000 musicians play in pubs, parking lots, and dedicated venues like Tamworth Town Hall. Free concerts happen daily on Peel Street, where you can hear emerging artists alongside established acts. The Golden Guitar Awards ceremony at TRECC Arena honors top performers, with trophies shaped like the city’s iconic landmark. Workshops teach guitar techniques or how to write lyrics, and stalls sell handmade leather goods and vintage records. Over 300 food trucks serve barbecue, damper bread, and craft beers throughout the event.

Australian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Big Golden Guitar

The Big Golden Guitar visitor center displays costumes worn by stars like Kasey Chambers and Troy Cassar-Daley. Slim Dusty unveiled this fiberglass monument in 1988, and today you can take photos beside it for free. Inside, the Hall of Fame exhibits handwritten song drafts, Gram Parsons’ Nudie suit, and a replica of the 1955 Holden ute from the “Pub With No Beer” music video. Try recording your voice over a classic country track in the sound booth, or watch footage from festivals in the 1970s when crowds were smaller but just as passionate.

Powerstation Museum: Australia’s First Electric Streetlights

Tamworth became the first Australian town with electric streetlights in 1888, two years before London. The original power station’s office now holds the Powerstation Museum, where you’ll find the switchboard that controlled early lighting. Turn handles on interactive models to understand how coal-powered generators lit streets and homes. Glass cases display early irons, toasters, and a 1920s vacuum cleaner that required two people to operate. A photo wall contrasts gas-lit 1880s streets with today’s LED-lit CBD.

Art, Trains, and Wildlife

The Tamworth Regional Gallery occupies a 1930s brick building with six rotating exhibition spaces. One room focuses on Indigenous art from the Kamilaroi nation, including bark paintings and woven baskets. At the Australian Railway Monument west of town, plaques name workers who died building tracks between 1850 and 1950. The Tamworth Marsupial Park lets you hand-feed wallabies along a shaded creek path, or watch koalas sleep in gum trees. For train history, visit the nearby Walk a Country Mile Museum to operate a model railway that replicates the 1860s Newcastle-to-Tamworth line.

Hiking and Nearby Day Trips

Climb the 15-minute trail to Oxley Scenic Lookout for sunrise views over the city and Peel River. The path passes sandstone formations and signs explaining how Indigenous groups used native plants. Follow the Peel River Walkway from Bicentennial Park to the Tamworth Botanic Gardens, where you’ll find a cactus greenhouse and duck ponds. Drive 50 minutes south to Quirindi to see the 30-meter wheat silo painted with a mural of a stockman and kelpie dog. In Barraba, 90 minutes north, bird hides let you spot diamond firetails and painted honeyeaters in the Coolah Tops woodlands.

Goonoo Goonoo Station: Farm Stay and Dining

The 1840s Goonoo Goonoo Station homestead sits on 2,000 hectares of farmland 20 minutes from Tamworth. Book a table at the Glasshouse Restaurant for slow-cooked lamb shoulder with roasted beetroot from the garden. Overnight guests stay in converted shearers’ quarters with exposed brick walls and deep bathtubs. Join a 4WD tour to see sheep grazing beneath stands of river red gums, or watch blacksmiths shape horseshoes in the original forge. During winter, bonfire nights include storytelling about bushrangers who once raided the property.

Kamilaroi Culture and Colonial History

Kamilaroi guides lead tours to rock carvings near Moonbi, 30 minutes north, depicting emu tracks and ancestral beings. The Tamworth Regional Gallery’s Yinaar exhibition explains how local clans used bark canoes to fish the Peel River. After European settlers arrived in the 1830s, Tamworth became a key stop for coaches traveling between Sydney and Brisbane. The 1876 Tamworth Post Office still operates with its original cedar counter and brass mail slots. Pick up a heritage walk map at the visitor center to find buildings like the 1888 Town Hall clock tower and St. Nicholas’ Anglican Church.

Year-Round Events and Markets

In March, the Comfort Food Cabaret pairs local bands with dishes like kangaroo stew and wattleseed damper at Tamworth Town Hall. The October Tamworth Show includes sheep shearing contests, wood-chopping demos, and a Ferris wheel overlooking the showgrounds. Watch rodeo riders compete at the Australian Equine Centre during the Easter Rodeo Weekend, or browse handmade jewelry and fresh olives at the Tamworth Farmers Market every Sunday morning.

Getting Around and Staying in Tamworth

Fly directly to Tamworth Airport from Sydney, Brisbane, or Melbourne, or drive 4.5 hours from Sydney via the New England Highway. Most hotels cluster near Marius Street, a 5-minute walk from the Big Golden Guitar and Peel Street cafes. Free parking lots near the Tamworth Regional Gallery and Bicentennial Park let you explore the CBD without time limits. Rent bikes from the visitor center to ride along the Peel River, or join a guided bus tour that stops at the Powerstation Museum and Oxley Lookout. Book festival accommodation 6 months ahead, as motels fill quickly.