Tamworth Country Music Festival is officially under way with large crowds and big business expected

Previous festivals have been stunted due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic but with restrictions lifted festival coordinators are quietly confident crowds will return en masse to Tamworth's biggest event of the year.

"If we can emulate what we used to do in 2018, 2019, we'll be very happy with that. That could represent something in the order of somewhere between 30 and 40,000 [people] per day over the 10 days, and if that happens that actually ignites that economic input of over $60 million into the economy," Festival Manager Barry Harley said.

White tents filled with merchandise are densely packed along Peel Street ready to capitalise on the influx of visitors despite the cost-of-living crisis clamping down on people's wallets this year.

"There's a perfect storm brewing with the cost of living, fuel prices, power prices, impacts of floods and all sorts of things so we'd be a bit naive to expect that's not going to have an impact of some description, but I think Tamworth is so balanced with the number of ticketed shows and free shows," Mr Harley said.

"We've got over 2,000 events and about 70 per cent of those are free."

Demand for these events is high. Thousands upon thousands of tickets have already been sold and eager festivalgoers were using folded chairs to claim space in Bicentennial Park for the opening concert more than twelve hours before it was even set to begin.

"Ticket sales flattened off a little bit over Christmas but then came back with a vengeance. We've sold over 16,000 tickets in the last three weeks," Mr Harley said.

"The teams have worked very, very hard [to set up] over 60 venues. There's over 600 artists engaged and there's over 300 buskers registered so everything's set for a fabulous ten days," he said.

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Many of the stars are back and ready to take to the stage after the COVID-hiatus.

"There's something about a hometown gig and a hometown crowd and to play some of the biggest stages here in your hometown is a rush, it's such an energetic feeling," Tamworth singer-songwriter and last year's Golden Guitar female artist of the year Ashleigh Dallas said.

"There's a lot of nostalgia with this festival. It's quite hard to talk about without getting emotional about it. This festival means so much to me."

Tamworth council is eager to put on a good show and make a lasting impression on visitors.

"Tamworth is a dynamic, thriving centre in the country region of NSW. It's got a lot to offer and I want people to come in and have a really great time," Tamworth mayor Russell Webb said.

It hasn't been an easy lead-up. Staff had the challenge of putting on a full 10-day program for the 2023 festival in a post-COVID era, almost back-to-back after last year's mini-April festival.

"Usually it takes about twelve months to prepare for a festival so the guys have only had nearly nine months to prepare for this one," Mr Webb said.

Despite the challenges, the festival is on in full swing and a buzz is in the air all along Peel Street.

"Tamworth is the capital of country music in Australia and indeed in the Southern Hemisphere," Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said.

"We're back, baby. And we're gonna kick it and rip it!"

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