The 2023 Tamworth Country Music Festival drew crowds of more than 30,000 people per day over the ten-day period

An average of more than 40,000 people were involved in country music festivities across the city, with over 30,000 walking through Peel Street each day.

"[We use] a smartphone collection system that identifies every smartphone that comes in once, and the numbers on that is over 30,000 that visited the CBD precinct over a single day," festival manager Barry Harley said.

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Mr Harley said this year's festival marked a "return to normal" after two years of COVID disruptions.

"Is it the biggest? Perhaps not. But is it one of the better ones? Yes it is," he said.

Though organisers were happy with turnout this year, Mr Harley said he expects crowd sizes to be larger next year due to the fact the 2024 festival is set to run over Australia Day.

Mr Harley also hinted at the possible return of one of the festival's key events, the iconic cavalcade.

"Right at the moment we are unable to present the cavalcade in its current form, given all the restrictions of hostile vehicle mitigation and insurances and things like that, but [to be] perfectly honest if there is an alternative we will find it and it could be back on the calendar in due time," he said.

The festival's economic benefit is still being measured, but festival goers brought in at least $60 million, making up almost 20 per cent of Tamworth's annual economy.

Golden Guitar Awards producer Peter Ross, said he was very satisfied with the number of ticket sales for concerts at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC) and other venues.

James Johnston enjoyed a sold-out concert of 1900 people in the TRECC, while Troy Cassar-Daley and Lee Kernaghan attracted similar numbers.

"We did over 27,000 tickets this year, which is about 3,000 up on 2020, and the Golden Guitar Awards had over 2,200 people attend," Mr Ross said.

Mr Ross was grateful to see more people returning to the country music festival after April 2022's lackluster experience.

"April was a bit of a dip for numbers. I think it was about 18,000 tickets that we did across all our events, so certainly good to get back above 27,000," he said.

Owner of the Pub Group (The Pub, Southgate Inn, Moonshiners, The Family Hotel, Longyard Hotel) Craig Power, said the benefits country music brings to his businesses are a relief after the harsh bite of the COVID pandemic.

"We've got 30 plus years of experience of festivals in this town. It didn't hit a record [this] time, but after two years of having Januarys off it was welcomed and all venues were full," he said.

That sentiment was echoed by mayor Russell Webb, who was happy to see the festival returned to its traditional January slot.

"It's been a wonderful celebration of getting together after COVID," mayor Russel Webb said.

Cr Webb also said he's heard positive news from the Tamworth police, crediting the crowd's good behaviour to some of the festival's freshest faces.

"I think that comes back to the fact that we've now got a family event, an event that people would want to come to and bring their families to," he said.

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