TCMF2020: Drought will impact Tamworth Country Music Festival, organiser Barry Harley said

A large number of festival-goers come from regional and rural Australia, organiser Barry Harley said, and when times are tough on the farm it makes it hard to afford a 10-day stop off in Tamworth.

"Drought does change the actual event, it will have an impact," he said.

"Let's say there was a ten per cent impact from the drought this year, with that sustaining that ten per cent will still be there because a lot of our constituents come from regional Australia.

"But, it's important for us to maintain as big an event as possible because that economical impact is so vital to keep the community buoyant for the next 12 months."

Tickets have already gone on sale for a number of the major headline acts, in 2020 Lee Kernaghan, The McClymonts, Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daley and John Williamson will be back.

There's not often complaints about the music, except from those with an aversion to country music, but a number of issues did come up in Tamworth Regional Council's community consultation after the festival in January.

Heat was one of the big ones, that the council tried to mitigate with mist towers and moving the markets into the centre of Peel Street so buskers and visitors could escape into the shade.

This year retail numbers in some cases struggled while venues saw an increase in visitors looking to take shelter from the heat.

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By 2020 a portion of the upgrades to Fitzroy Plaza are expected to be complete, with more events to run in the area and decent shade trees to block the sun.

Tamworth Country Music Festival 2020 is on from January 17 to 26.

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