The Tamworth Country Music Festival is ramping up to the Australia Day long weekend, with the best Aussie country talent on show and local stations supporting the festival.

Local stations 92.9 and 2TM are backing the festival with promotions. Scotty Mclaren has told radioinfo:

“We have station promo’s galore for 92.9, including a ‘busked off’ promotion on the public buses between artists, a competition to ‘find the fro’ where listeners have to find Guy Sebastian in town to win passes to his show, and ‘Show us your Talents,’ with country and rock acts showing up to camp grounds and playing in the back of utes, caravans or whatever.” .

At beer o clock the station’s promotions team is in the Carlton Draught schooner balloon giving away free stuff.

In January, the population of Tamworth almost doubles in size to 100,000 and the festival generates more than $40 million to the local economy.

The big event of the Festival, the 38th Country Music Association of Australia Country Music Awards, known as the Golden Guitars, will be held this weekend.

ABC Radio is also supporting the Festival, with special coverage on John Nutting’s Saturday Night Country program and entensive coverage on digital radio channel ABC Country.

The ABC Country website reported:

“The New South Wales town of Tamworth managed to keep its boots high and dry during the state’s recent floods… Although there was some good rainfall over the Christmas period in and around the Tamworth district, Anna Moulder from ABC New England North West has reported that ‘There is certainly no flooding anywhere near Tamworth at the moment (closest is out near Brewarrina and Walgett Shire) and it’s not looking like flooding rain on its way that we know of.'”