Between the heat, Keith, festival and Australia Day, it’s been one hell of a week.

The team has been non-stop, round the clock covering the country music festival. The crowds have been milling around the boulevard of dreams in Peel Street, as the buskers belt out tunes and the artists sing their hearts out in the pubs, clubs and entertainment venues.

There’s been show after show and gig after gig, all culminating in this weekend which saw the cavalcade, Golden Guitars, and the closing concert and battle of the buskers will be the finale to the 10-day festival tonight.

The campers and visitors have had to brave the elements with mother nature throwing one gigantic heatwave across Tamworth for January, coupled with a few storms throughout.

The heat has been relentless and has kept St John Ambulance volunteers treating plenty in the city.

On Tuesday night, Keith Urban wowed an intimate crowd on when he played his first gig in the festival in the name of charity, with proceeds donated to Rural Aid.

But it was little Maddy Warden – the girl who he plucked out of the crowd and onto the stage at his intimate concert in front of 1000 Tamworth fans on Tuesday night. But the superstar encounter didn’t end there. It was then that the country music superstar gave her his electric guitar.

Her story was one that needed to be shared. The 16-year-old’s family property at Walgett is ravaged by drought and she’s spent her school holidays pulling sheep out of the bog and euthanizing the others that won’t survive. So her holidays will be one to remember for more reasons than one.

It was a concert for Keith to remember too. He showed flashback photos on stage of when he used to play in the festival as a youngster before he hit the big time, and also then sent a personal video out telling the masses how much he had missed Tamworth.

And after all that, was Australia Day. A volunteer with the State Emergency Service for 29 years, Tamworth’s Fire and Rescue superintendent, a Rotarian since 1969, and a past recipient of the Noel Park Award were all recognised with Australia Day honours.

To them, we say thank you for your time, efforts and dedication in your endeavours and chosen fields. It’s testament to our community to have such worthy recipients and it’s inspiration to us all.

We say congratulations.

If you’ve missed anything from the week, our live blog has everything you need to know.

Enjoy your long weekend, stay cool and keep an eye on our website as we wrap up the festival and the Australia Day long weekend.

Breanna Chillingworth

Deputy Editor