TAMWORTH is becoming a magnet for world class entertainment acts, with the city’s entrepreneurs signing some up more than a year in advance.
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With a swag of artists to hit the city in January for the Tamworth Country Music Festival, tickets are already on sale for artists at local venues.
But in a sign of the times, three international acts are scheduled to perform in February alone.
Local event organisers believe Tamworth has what it takes to attract the big guns to the area and there really is no stopping us.
Their comments follow Monday’s announcement that iconic Aussie rockers Icehouse would perform in the city in February next year, and just two weeks earlier it was announced The Beach Boys and The Temptations would perform on Valentine’s Day.
Manager of entertainment venues, Peter Ross said things just keep getting bigger and better for the Tamworth entertainment scene.
“We are really blessed to have a range of venues in town that attract a whole range of productions,” he said.
“It could be something smaller of an international or national sense right up to three and a half thousand to 5000 (people).
“It’s very exciting for our venues, but also for the city.
“I think it shows a great confidence in Tamworth from promoters and producers around the country that Tamworth and the audiences have a great love of music.”
Mr Ross said organisers work with promoters to “lock in” entertainment acts 12 to 18 months ahead.
“It’s about the relationships and working with them to give them the confidence and deliver the venue, marketing and the audience they need,” he said.
“Tamworth audiences love their music, and not just country music.
“We are very blessed to be positioned fairly centrally between Brisbane and Sydney, we are the major city that feeds the North West and New England.
“We have the facilities that can deliver these big shows, like the TRECC (Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre), not many places have those venues.
“In Orange and Wagga, the Beach Boys and Temptations are going to outdoor venues, because they don’t have entertainment facilities like ours in those regions.
“We are very lucky to have somewhere like that here.”
As for what’s on the horizon, Mr Ross said the city will be a hub of entertainment, and not just the TRECC either, with the Capitol Theatre set to launch its next season at the end of the month.
He said there would potentially be other major acts on the cards for mid-to-late next year, but would not yet divulge the details.
“We’ll just keep working away,” he said.
