What they are saying about the 2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival

Temperatures soared near 40 degrees on a couple of days during the 10-day event, but the city was bustling and camping grounds were at capacity early on.

Tamworth Country Music Festival Manager Barry Harley said the numbers reflected the halcyon days of the festival.

"The numbers that we experienced in the city in the early part of the festival moderated on Monday and Tuesday; there was a noticeable difference. Then it built to an enormous from Wednesday through to Saturday," he said.

"We were okay with the heat, as what it does is drive people into the venues to seek cooler comfort. But our aim is to give the benefit to the venues.

"It was pleasing to see the large numbers, and there was such a positive vibe throughout the entire festival."

The return of the much-loved Country Music Parade saw hundreds of fans line Peel Street on Saturday morning to catch a glimpse of their favourites artists.

And they weren't disappointed, with more than 50 musicians taking part in the event, as well as a swell of community groups.

The final weekend also saw the Lions Club of Tamworth 33^rd Great Country Music Super Duck Race on the Peel River, which raised money for local charities.

The festival peaked with the Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC) on Saturday night, where Tamworth-born Felicity Urquhart and musical partner Josh Cunningham cleaned up with three Golden Guitars.

Mr Harley said the "vibe" on the night was very much about family.

"At the Golden Guitars, it was interesting how the artists referred to it as a family and the festival as a homecoming, because I felt that throughout the whole festival," he said.

"The sense of comradery that was demonstrated, whether by an emerging or established artist, was wonderful to see throughout the night and the whole festival."

The best of the buskers also took to the Toyota Park Stage on Sunday night.

The judges' top ten picks for this year's championship were: Sunday Lemonade, Rhiz & the Sugarplums, Robbie & Ben, Dollys, Ruby Jane, Saije, Nisha Priest, Dennis Comino, Emma Jones, and Monico.

Last year's champion and 2024 Golden Guitar nominee, Lane Pittman also performed for the crowd.

TCMF Busking Coordinator, Kyle Kash, said this year saw a record number of buskers on the Boulevard of Dreams [Peel Street].

"We had 370 registrations at the end of the festival," he said.

"It's amazing. One of the big things is that, despite having a record-breaking number, we managed to fit people in quite seamlessly. Where there were problems, we were able to fix them quite easily.

"The buskers were great to work with, and the businesses were great to work with.

"People had quite a good experience, and I hope this breaks the typical rumours that go around before each festival that it's too noisy, or buskers have to do this, or that."