Tamworth Country Music Festival could be scrapped for 2021

Yet another major music festival seems set to be a victim of the coronavirus, with high possibility that the Tamworth Country Music Festival may not go ahead in 2021.

Tamworth Regional Council will meet on Tuesday, September 8, to debate whether to suspend all its events at the festival, currently scheduled for January 15 to 24.

“The medical advice that we’re receiving is that it’s absolutely illegal to run a music festival, and illegal to actually have mass gatherings of greater than 20,” Festival GM Barry Harley said.

“Just about every element the council is responsible for in January requires massing large crowds, and this we can’t do.”

Council events include the concerts at Toyota Park which can draw up to 10,000 for some shows, Coca-Cola Country, the opening cavalcade, busking, FanZone and the stalls in the main Peel Street thoroughfare.

An announcement will be made next Wednesday, after the council’s decision.

The decision to forego next year would be a hard one to make: the festival draws an aggregated 300,000, Harley told TMN earlier, with an attendance of 50,000 each day.

With an influx of attendees from around Australia and overseas, its economic impact on the region has been put at $105.2 million.

It wouldn’t be financially viable to consider going ahead without council support, especially as social distancing requirements would already have slashed attendance maximums.

Border restrictions would also mean the loss of some headliners.

“I bring myself back to reality by saying, ‘they cancelled the Olympics… and if they can cancel the Olympics, we can suspend the council for one year and come back stronger,” Harley told ABC Radio last night (September 1),

Pending council’s decision, all focus will be on the 2022 event, which marks its 50th anniversary.

However the Golden Guitar music awards, which traditionally mark the end of the festival, will go ahead in 2021 as an online event to celebrate the achievements of artists through the year.

The decision to scrap the festival for 2021 doesn’t come out of the blue.

In early August, organisers acknowledged changes would be made because of social restrictions, and marketing and ticket sales were delayed to see how things panned out.

“Like many others in our situation, we are hoping for the best outcome, while simultaneously preparing for the worst,” Harley said.