tamworth

Business Directory and Tourist Guide

TAMWORTH

The Heart of Country

Welcome to the Tamworth Region. Discover what locals love about this great region - a friendly and fun country atmosphere with all the benefits of a progressive and thriving urban centre, tantalising local food
and wine, first class entertainment and sporting facilities and a myriad of year-round festivals, events and entertainment.

Immerse yourself in all the country fun that the Tamworth region offers.

abouth the TAMWORTh region

Tamworth is best known as Australia’s Country Music Capital for the nationally recognised and award-
winning annual Country Music Festival held each year over 10 days in January and doubling the region’s population. This is the largest music festival in the southern hemisphere and one of the top music festivals
10 in the world.

And, whilst Tamworth may be synonymous with country music, there’s a lot more to this great region than great country music. It’s the urban heart circulating historic, cultural and commercial lifeblood to over 58,000 people throughout the region. There’s a busy year round calendar of events and festivals, locally grown
food and wine, country experiences, outdoor recreation and vibrant heritage, museums and arts all on offer.

towns within the region

Tamworth, Nundle, Bendemeer, Moonbi, Kootingal, Nemingha, Attunga, Manilla and Barraba

Interesting Facts:

On 9 November 1888, Tamworth became the first location in the Southern Hemisphere to have electric street lighting, giving the city the title of ‘City of Light’.

Tamworth’s annual Country Music Festival is the largest music festival in the southern hemisphere and one of the top 10 music festivals in the world with over 2200 events and 400 different performances or gigs across 80 different venues.

must see - must do

  • Visit Oxley Lookout at the top end of White Street for a birds-eye view over Tamworth and walk the nearby Kamilaroi walking track.

  • Visit Marsupial Park, 14 hectares of bushland within minutes of the City CBD and take in the bird aviary, Eastern grey kangaroos, kids playground, BBQs and picnic facilities. Located on Endeavour Drive at the top end of Brisbane Street. Nearby are the beautiful Tamworth Region Botanic Gardens.

  • Soak up Tamworth’s Country Music culture and see and hear the story of the music and artists that have shaped Australian country music at Walk a Country Mile Interpretive Museum in the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre, corner of Peel and Murray Streets.

  • Set your sights on the 12 metre sky high Big Golden Guitar on Goonoo Goonoo Road, the icon that’s become synonymous with Australia’s Country Music Capital. Be sure to take a photo with one of Australia’s ‘Big Things’ to remember your visit to Tamworth and there’s also a photo opportunity to be had sitting next to the statue of Australian Country Music legend Smoky Dawson on Peel Street.

  • See how Tamworth earned its place in history as the ‘City of Light’ with a trip to the Tamworth Powerstation Museum, corner of Peel and Darling Streets.

  • Photo opportunities abound – Tamworth is a photographer’s delight from the architecture of buildings, the rolling hills, spectacular sunsets, rural landscapes and native wildlife.

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Tourist Drives:

Follow the brown and white Tourist Drives Signs to enjoy these scenic country drives in the Tamworth region.
Tourist Drive 21 - Uralla to Bendemeer via Walcha
Tourist Drive 23 - Tamworth to Wallabadah via Nundle
Tourist Drive 25 - Tamworth to Willow Tree via Quirindi

Events Abound:

Tamworth is also a vibrant year-round sporting and entertainment events hub with state of the art venues such as the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC), the Australian Equine and Livestock Centre (AELEC) and Sports Dome, all supporting a busy year-round calendar of major State and National titles and touring shows.

SEE EVENTS PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Country Life

As one of Australia’s agricultural hubs, the Tamworth region has a strong focus on traditional farming such as sheep, beef, poultry, grains, dairy and pastures. Recently, Tamworth has experienced a growth in niche agricultural ventures such as vineyards, olive groves, nuts, fish farming, honey, hydroponics and delicious berries. The Tamworth region’s abundance of top quality local produce does not stop in the paddock. A number of restaurants and businesses utilise the local products to create a wide range of tasty dishes.

Food and Wine

Tamworth has the distinction of being home to world-class, award-winning restaurants and chefs. These talented food artists are Tamworth locals and are amongst the best in the world. Many restaurants throughout the region make the most of the variety of local produce using it to create a wide range of delicious dishes.

Several of the licensed local eateries stock a selection of wines from the region’s boutique vineyards. The region’s growing and dynamic locally produced food and wine offerings are celebrated annually during April at the Tamworth Taste Festival which includes a popular Farmgate Trail.

A sample of local food and wine produced in the region includes rainbow trout from Nundle’s Arc-en-ciel Trout Farm, Quast Turkeys, Dexter beef, Kitty Crawford Estate wines, Peel Valley dairy products, Winjana olives, Koolkuna berries, Australian Bush Honey and Rebel Ant beer.

Outdoor & Adventure

Country living is synonymous with the outdoors and the region offers an abundance of recreation and adventure experiences such as National Parks, State Parks, boating, fishing, water sports, horse riding, paragliding, bird watching and fossicking.

The region’s many dams such as Chaffey, Lake Keepit, Split Rock and Glen Riddle Reserve offer great opportunities for camping, boating, fishing and watersports.

Barraba is internationally recognised for its birdwatching sites, some 36 well documented and signposted
bird sites provide twitchers with the opportunity to observe 237 species of native birds, including the
Turquoise Parrot and the much sought after, endangered Regent Honeyeater.

Arts and Heritage

The Tamworth region has a rich and fascinating history. Exploring the city’s heritage is a world that you can get enthralled and lost in. Landmarks in the city include the railway station built in 1878, the Victorian classical stuccoed brick Post Office designed by James Barnet and built in 1883-86 and the War Memorial Town Hall with its amazing sprung floor built in 1933-34.

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key heritage experiences

Tamworth Historical Society keeps the area’s history alive at the Calala Cottage Museum on Denison Street. Designed and built by Philip Gidley King in 1875, Calala Cottage is now a late Victorian furnished museum.
The site also includes the oldest standing building in Tamworth, an original slab hut.

WARTIME HISTORY

Anyone that is interested in Australia’s wartime history can immerse themselves in memorials that pay tribute to those who have served for Australia. They include Anzac Park, with its Anzac Memorial Gates and Sandakan Memorial, the War Memorial Cemetery, Gipps Street War Memorial Avenue and The Australian Light Horse Memorial bronze sculpture ‘The Whaler’ in Bicentennial Park.

THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM

(Corner Peel & Darling Streets) marking Tamworth’s standing as the first municipal shire to turn on electric street lighting in 1888.

THE POWERHOUSE MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM

(Armidale Road, Eastern end of the Powerhouse Hotel) features more than 50 motorcycles from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

THE TAMWORTH REGIONAL ART GALLERY

One of the oldest regional galleries in NSW, established in 1919, and hosts some of the most prestigious and exquisite touring exhibitions in Australia.

For a self-guided tour of the local history and heritage within Tamworth, pick up your itinerary from the Visitor Information Centre.

Country Music Culture

Visitors can take in a number of country music attractions year-round, including:

  • Walk a Country Mile Interpretive Museum in Tamworth Visitors Centre
  • The Big Golden Guitar Centre including the Gallery of Stars
  • The Galaxy of Stars at Tamworth Regional Entertainment Conference and Convention Centre
  • Australian Country Music Hall of Fame on Brisbane Street
  • The Bronze cast Country Music Legends bust in Bicentennial Pak
  • The Hands of Fame displays of handprints of Country Music Stars

Accommodation

The Tamworth region offers a diversity of accommodation from 5 star B&Bs, luxurious suites and apartments to cosy rural farmstays and cabins, hotels and motels, caravan parks and camping in State Parks and recreation areas.

Visitor Information Centres

Tamworth Visitor Information Centre & Coach Station
Cnr New England Highway & The Ringers Road, South Tamworth
Open 7 days 9am-5pm. Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day
P: 02 6767 5300
E:info@destinationtamworth.com.au W: www.destinationtamworth.com.au

Barraba Visitor Information Centre
Barraba Bakery, 81 Queen Street Barraba, P: 02 6782 1024
Saunders Fruit & Veg, 83 Queen Street Barraba, P: 02 6782 1253
Tamworth Regional Council Office, 27 Alice Street Barraba, P: 02 6782 1105
E: visitbarraba@bigpond.com W: www.visitbarraba.com.au

Manilla Visitor Information Centre
incorporating Royce House Manilla Historical Museum
197 Manilla Street Manilla
P: 02 6785 1207
E: visitmanilla@bigpond.com W: www.visitmanilla.com.au

The Nundle Visitor Information Centre
incorporating the Gil Bennett Gem and Mineral Collection
103 Jenkins Street, Nundle (in the Fossickers Way Caravan Park)
P: 02 6769 3044
E: visitnundle@bigpond.com W: www.nundle.com



Ph: 02 6767 5300
E: info@destinationtamworth.com.au www.destinationtamworth.com.au

TAMWORTH Visitor Information Centre

Big Golden Guitar
cnr New England Highway & The Ringers Road
South Tamworth NSW 2340