TAMWORTH City Dance Academy is celebrating back-to-back wins for the best commercial entry in this year’s Tamworth Country Music Festival cavalcade.
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Academy principal Kellie Singh said the win was a great start to the year for the 90 dancers who took part in Saturday’s event.
She said all of the girls who dazzled the crowds on Peel St volunteered and the Christmas break meant they could only fit in a little bit of practice prior to the event.
“We did a rehearsal in my street with all the girls the week before,” Ms Singh said.
“All I can say is, I have fantastic neighbours who didn’t have a problem at all with ballerinas dancing in their street.”
Tamworth City Dance Academy dancers also featured on Amber Lawrence’s float dressed as Wonder Woman.
It is the seventh year the academy has been part of the cavalcade. It took home the gong for the same category in 2014 and has been placed second twice and third once.
About 80 floats and scores of country music stars and personalities took part in the biggest moving mass of festival finery on Saturday.
Major sponsor Toyota had a fleet of about 19 vehicles in this year’s procession with about 30 stars aboard.
Among those also taking part were mayors, including two international civic leaders, Queen entrants, hundreds of locals and their children, entertainers of a different ilk to country music who like to enjoy the limelight too, such as Wayne Rogers, and a host of backyard animals, including horses and cows.
Scores of dancers danced to the beat along with a fair few energetic country music stars too, who hoofed it along the two-kilometre route.
There were half a dozen bands, emergency and defence services personnel, business leaders and sportsmen, including former Aussie cricketing quick Glen McGrath.
The 2015 commercial second place was awarded to Dance Dynamics and Suzz Trans with the crew from Australian Country Music People’s Choice Award taking the bronze.
Best non-commercial entrant went to Tamworth RSL Sub-branch followed by Fire and Rescue NSW and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
Calton United Breweries took home the grand prize in the best non-vehicle followed by the Armidale Pipe Band and Australian Air League Band.