Everything Victorian music fans need to know about the Toyota 55th Tamworth Country Music Festival, running 15–24 January across every corner of the country music capital.
Pack your boots: the Toyota 55th Tamworth Country Music Festival is about to take over an entire town.
Running for 10 days from 15–24 January, the Toyota 55th Tamworth Country Music Festival will see more than 700 artists perform across free and ticketed shows scattered right through the city, from pubs and clubs to parks, theatres and street corners.
The festival is recognised as the largest and longest-running country music event in the southern hemisphere, and typically draws more than 300,000 people to the town in North West NSW.
This year’s theme is Every Corner. Every Stage. Every Sound, which pretty much sums up the whole deal, unlike most festivals that stick to one venue, Tamworth Country Music Festival spreads itself across the entire town, so you could catch a headliner on one stage and a busker on the next street over.
Toyota 55th Tamworth Country Music Festival
- When: 15–24 January
- Where: Tamworth, NSW (venues across the whole city)
- More than 700 artists across free and ticketed shows, including headline sets from Lee Kernaghan and Troy Cassar-Daley
- Toyota 55th Golden Guitar Awards at TRECC on 23 January
- More than 400 buskers performing along Peel Street
- Tickets here
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
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The festival has just announced its 2027 “Faces of the Festival”, a lineup of five artists fronting the promotional push: Adam Harvey, Amber Lawrence, Dear Tommie, Max Jackson and Robbie Mortimer.
Harvey, who’s been attending the festival for 36 years and was inducted into the Australasian Roll of Renown in 2026, called it the most important 10 days of the year for any country artist.
Dear Tommie, a Tamworth local, said she’s looking forward to sharing the town’s culture and playing tour guide for newcomers.
What’s on: a festival that swallows an entire town
The bulk of the action falls under the festival’s What’s On program, which covers hundreds of free and ticketed shows spanning pubs, clubs, theatres and outdoor stages across the city.
Multi-award winners Lee Kernaghan and Troy Cassar-Daley headline shows at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC), while Toyota Park, the festival’s biggest outdoor venue, hosts free nightly concerts, kicking off with the Opening Night Concert and fireworks display on 15 January.
Other Toyota Park nights include Girls’ Night Out, Americana in the Park, a new Bluegrass Hoedown, Back to the Bush, Kix in the Park, the Friday Night Lights album launch and Country Party in the Park, right through to the festival’s close on 24 January.
Venues around town including the Town Hall, Capitol Theatre, The Longyard and Wests Entertainment Group have also confirmed lineups featuring Fanny Lumsden, Dan Sultan, The Wolfe Brothers, Sara Storer and dozens more.
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Where future stars busk for their break
Peel Street, known locally as the Boulevard of Dreams, turns into one of Australia’s most vibrant live music strips for the festival, with more than 400 buskers performing for free throughout the 10 days.
It’s one of the largest busking programs in the country, and part of what makes the festival feel so accessible: wander down Peel Street on any given afternoon and you might catch a first-timer playing their first ever set metres away from an award-winning artist heading into a pub show.
Busking itself doesn’t cost a thing to watch, though performers do need to register for identification and insurance purposes before setting up.
For emerging artists, it’s also a genuine way into the industry, with buskers rubbing shoulders with managers, record labels, promoters and media across the festival’s 10 days, alongside opportunities to perform on free community stages elsewhere in town.
Ten buskers are selected each year by judges to perform at the Toyota Busking Championships, held in Toyota Park on the festival’s final weekend, where they compete for a cash prize as well as the coveted People’s Choice award.
It’s a launching pad in its own right: plenty of Australia’s best-known country artists got their start busking on these same streets before going on to headline the festival themselves.
The talent search that’s launched actual superstars
The 47th Toyota Star Maker Grand Final lands in Toyota Park on 17 January, bringing together the year’s top 10 finalists alongside the reigning champion and special guests.
It’s widely regarded as Australia’s most prestigious country music talent search, with past winners including Keith Urban, Kaylee Bell, Lee Kernaghan and Gina Jeffreys.
The competition has been running for decades and remains one of the most closely watched events on the festival calendar, with industry figures and record labels keeping a close eye on each year’s finalists.
Entries for the 2027 competition are open now and close 1 September, making it a genuine launchpad for anyone hoping to take the Toyota Park stage themselves come January.
For finalists, it’s not just about the grand final performance either, the lead-up includes mentoring and networking opportunities that have helped shape the careers of some of the biggest names in Australian country music.
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The night of nights for Australian country music
The pinnacle of the festival is the Toyota 55th Golden Guitar Awards, held at TRECC on the final Saturday, 23 January.
It’s Australia’s most prestigious country music awards ceremony and the only industry-affiliated country music awards in the country, celebrating a year of recording excellence across the Australasian scene.
The night draws the biggest names in Australian country music and caps off the festival’s ten days in genuinely glamorous fashion.
For Victorians, it’s a proper excuse for a regional getaway: a direct flight into Tamworth or a scenic drive inland from Sydney or Brisbane, then 10 days of live music spilling out of every venue in town.
Camping and accommodation bookings tend to fill up well before January, so it’s worth locking those in early.
Tickets for the first wave of shows, including the Golden Guitar Awards, went on sale Thursday 9 July, with more free and ticketed shows to be announced over the coming months.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Tamworth Country Music Festival.
