Tamworth Country Music Festival 2023: Riverside Camping Ground officially opens

Prepaid bookings for a spot on the fields were already sitting at more than 500 on the official opening of the site on Friday.

Tamworth Regional Council events officer Melanie Jenkins said she expects 1200 sites to be filled, which is equal to the showing in 2018 - before drought, fires and COVID disrupted the main event.

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"The numbers suggest that it's going to be really good," she said.

"It's a good feeling. Everyone's excited.

"We think this will be our new benchmark.

"This will be hopefully what it is going forward."

The only thing that could dampen spirits, would be water filling up in the flood zone, but after numerous meetings between council and emergency services, the SES are "all quite comfortable", with an evacuation plan at the ready, Ms Jenkins said.

Curiosity brought Robin Bennell into Riverside on Friday morning. It will be her first ever experience of the country music festival.

She travelled from Kiama near Wollongong in her recently purchased caravan.

"First time with the van, so I thought I'd do the trek," she said.

Stories of the festival had reached her for years, and she decided 2023 was the time to take the leap.

"I've never been here before, I don't know what to expect, so it's more a case of just the experience in general," she said.

"Once I bought my ticket, everybody that I've spoken to that's been here said 'you're going to have the best, most fabulous time'."

She chose Riverside to park her mobile home because it's the "closest and easiest" to access the music.

"And that's what it's all about, isn't it?" she said.

"The atmosphere" of the festival has kept 80-year-old Denis McGrath coming back from Victoria for 17 years.

Only two of those years he's spent at a site other than Riverside.

He attended the April festival in 2022, and admits the weather was "perfect".

"It was the first time I've ever pulled a blanket over myself," he said.

"I bought the motor home, not to travel Australia, just to go to mainly music festivals."

Noel Richards brings a little bit of home with him when he sets up camp in time for the event.

"We call it Oakey Corner, because that's where we come from in Queensland," he said.

It's been almost three decades that Mr Richards and his wife have visited the festival, and they always set up in the same spot.

"We meet 30 people [here] every year," he said.

"We've got people from all over Australia we meet here, Tasmania, Western Australia, Northern Territory, they all meet us here every year."

He's looking forward to a full 10-day festival again, after being told to pack up on arrival in January 2022.

"The April crowd was a lot different than what the normal crowd are," he said.

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