Australia’s Country Music Capital will welcome delegates from the city’s US and New Zealand sister cities, Nashville and Gore, to share the festival.

Tamworth Regional Council business and events director John Sommerlad said Nashville mayor Karl Dean and his wife Anne Davis were coming our way with Sister Cities of Nashville executive director Heather Cunningham, Sister Cities of Nashville Tamworth committee chairman Garry Jackson and another four people involved with the sister city organisation.

Tamworth will also welcome interns Stella Coble and Allie-Rose Gregg, who are final-year students at the Harpeth Hall School and will work with the business and events department of the council during the festival.

“The school has a program called Winterim, a vocational program where students from the school are encouraged to travel internationally and put their skills to use in a voluntary capacity,” Mr Sommerlad said.

“They will operate a blog while they’re in Tamworth, which students and staff will be able to access back in Nashville.”

Mr Sommerlad said this would be the start of more interns coming to Tamworth, with council ready to welcome them if they wanted to come here.

“They travel all over the world, some go to South America, some go to Europe and I think one student was going to Africa,” he said.

“We are really thrilled that we’re having our first contingent of people from Nashville.”

The interns will be hosted in Tamworth residents’ homes while they are here.

Gore mayor Tracy Hicks and his wife Robyn, councillor Doug Grant and wife Denise, Gore council human resources manager Susan Jones and husband Peter, and Gore Young Ambassador Faith Harvey will travel from New Zealand.

“Tracy has been here many, many times before, as has Cr Grant, so they will partake in a few of the official functions and be out and about during the festival,” Tamworth Regional Council governance manager Karen Litchfield said.

Nashville mayor Karl Dean will attend a mayoral civic welcome lunch on Thursday, January 22, and the Queen of Country Music crowning gala dinner.

They will all enjoy a visit to Nundle and see the Toyota Country Music Cavalcade, Country Music Awards of Australia and the closing concert and fireworks on Sunday, January 25.

The Young Ambassador follows the queens around and will do a tandem paraglide off Mt Borah.