THE flags are flapping, the campers are rolling in and the blistering January heat is here – it’s beginning to feel a lot like festival time.
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In just 10 more sleeps, Tamworth’s CBD will be buzzing to the hum of some very familiar sounds.
Almost as familiar as the strum of battling buskers is the all-too-common refrain in recent years that “the festival is dead”.
The doomsayers are out again in force this year, fuelled by last month’s shock resignation of CMAA president John Williamson.
In their crosshairs, as always, are festival organisers.
Some claim organisers have allowed the festival to stray too far from its traditional roots while others say the festival needs to diversify even further.
Citing figures that show festival numbers are steadily dropping from the halcyon days of the ’80s and ’90s, the critics also blame organisers for muzzling the buskers and not staging enough free concerts.
They stick the boot into local businesses too – particularly motels and takeaways – for jacking up their prices for the festival.
And while many of these are valid points, the prophets of doom miss a far more critical point.
The festival only works because Tamworth embraces it.
We act as unofficial festival ambassadors, opening our city and our hearts to visitors.
An event of its size will always have peaks and troughs, but one constant should always be the smiling face of locals.
For more than four decades, this unpretentious country hospitality has been one of the secrets to the festival’s success.
Sadly, we live in an age of cynicism where any buffoon behind a keyboard can have their opinion broadcast to the masses via social media.
If we’re not careful, the “festival is dead” mantra could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The options for locals are very simple.
If you believe the festival is good for Tamworth, grab your hat and get into the spirit.
If you think it’s dead, get out of town and let the rest of us help revive it.
