THE bars and bistros of Tamworth's pubs aren't set to be too full this weekend, with numerous businesses expecting a smaller number of patrons with no festival on.
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The Leader chatted to staff at the Tudor Hotel, the Longyard Hotel, and The Tamworth, and all said they were predicting a quiet one.
Tudor Hotel assistant manager Shauna Riley said a lot of people had pulled out of accommodation bookings since Tamworth Country Music Festival (TCMF) was canned.
"Some of our regulars that have stayed here have actually travelled elsewhere this year," Ms Riley said.
"I did hear along the line that Newcastle are doing a country music thing down there, it was a little mini festival.
"We don't have any music on so I don't expect it to be very busy."
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She did say a few were booked in for the Golden Guitar Awards, though.
"We'll have to see how it goes afterwards because the festival is good for the whole town as well, I think everybody is going to feel the sting of it," she said.
The town's businesses all braced for impact when it was announced the festival would be cancelled, and now, when it would've been on, they're all much quieter than normal.
Manager of The Tamworth, Brad Smith, is facing a "pretty abysmal" weekend.
"Friday night there's not much in the way of bookings, we've got 25 or so booked in the beer garden and just one dinner booking," he said.
"Saturday ... I've got like two bookings, maybe three on that night."
The Marius Street venue was meant to host a line-up of country music artists on Saturday night, but this was cancelled, too.
"It'll be a lot more quiet. But we're still hosting bingo on Sunday, locals can jump on board from about 4pm," Mr Smith said.
Meanwhile, over on The Ringers Road, the Longyard Hotel could see some rodeo-goers on the weekend from the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC).
But licensee Ian Dundon said he's still expecting normal trade.
"There's a rodeo up at AELEC on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we'll probably get a bit of business from that," he said.
"We don't have any music so we'll pretty much be expecting a normal weekend and that's normally pretty busy anyway."
The bullriding last week brought a crowd to the pub, but Mr Dundon is ultimately keen for when TCMF comes back.
"That's our biggest activity, so everyone's resigned to that, that's just the way it is," he said.
"We'll look forward to the 50th one next year."
Jessica Worboys
Education and youth reporter at the Northern Daily Leader. Get in touch via jessica.worboys@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Education and youth reporter at the Northern Daily Leader. Get in touch via jessica.worboys@austcommunitymedia.com.au
