The Peel St civic headquarters assumes its January festival face as Festival HQ from today but this year drops the ubiquitous musical theme and takes up the golden mantle of the former King of Country, Slim Dusty.

The festival foyer will host a special exhibition honouring the Golden Guitar hero.

Among the items of memorabilia are the first gong Slim won in 1973 and the last one awarded to him, posthumously, in 2005.

They’re just two of the 37 Golden Guitars the industry icon won in a career spanning seven decades and cut short with his death in late 2003.

The festival this year celebrates the Slim Dusty story and his legacy in a number of special Slim tributes and themes. The exhibition is just one and has been curated by TRC festival and events officer Catherine Burton and the Tamworth festival co-founder Max Ellis.

The former industry association chief executive has virtually raided Slim Dusty and wife Joy McKean’s home for pieces to make up the collection.

Much of it goes on public exhibition for the first time ever.

“A lot of has never been seen before and a lot of it has been put away by the family but now brought out,” Mr Ellis said.

He went through the memorabilia with Slim and Joy’s daughter Anne Kirkpatrick and a lot of it is destined for the new Slim Dusty centre being built at Kempsey.

“This is simply a selection of Slim Dusty memorabilia, like the first pressing of the 100th Columbia single Sundown by EMI in 1976. That’s quite historic. And there’s a letter from John Howard when Slim celebrated his 50 years in the industry back in 1996.”

There are gold records and special presentations, including one to Slim for achieving 250,000 units in UK sales back in 1959.

Mr Ellis loaded his car from the Dusty household and yesterday the display was dusted off and put on show.

Among the collection are photos, posters, citations, boots Slim wore, the guitar played to record Pub With No Beer, his hat, and a custom-made stock whip he owned. There’s even an old “bottle of plonk”, a vintage-aged semillon chardonnay, bottled back in the 1980s as the Slim Dusty Collection.

Ms Burton said video screens would play loop footage of two of the This is Your Life television programs that twice starred the King Slim a few years back.

“It’s a very exciting exhibition for us,” Ms Burton said. “We’re very privileged to have it. I think festival fans will appreciate it too.”