A LINEUP of 18 Golden Guitar award winners is set to headline this year's Hats Off To Country event.
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Adam Harvey, Ashleigh Dallas and Luke O'Shea will be among the names to play at next month's four-day event, which will have a different feel from years gone by.
Due to social-distancing measures, the majority of this year's shows will be live streamed on social media, however venues such as Wests, The Tamworth Hotel and Tamworth City Bowling Club will host shows.
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Event co-ordinator Cheryl Brown said while this year's event was challenging to organise, it did offer up a number of exciting opportunities.
"We weren't so sure what we should do and we really are the first festival putting something together in this period," Ms Brown said.
"A lot of the artists have gone to their favourite venues and prerecorded their shows there, so really hats off to them for that.
"While it isn't how we normally would do things, I think everyone involved has adapted really well and it has opened up a lot of things for us."
The four-day event comes after a ban on regional travel within NSW was lifted in June, but Ms Brown said she didn't expect the number of visitors to Tamworth to increase.
"People are more than welcome to come up for a visit but unfortunately there won't be too much on offer for them," she said.
"All the venues would love to be able to host live music, but the restrictions that are in place don't really allow them to do that.
"The next best thing has been for artists to go to their favourite venues and prerecord their concerts to show the world what it is like in Tamworth."
The restrictions impacting this year's event will also extend to the annual Dag Sheep station songwriters' retreat in Nundle.
Station owner John Krsulja said while the retreat had been postponed until November, the station would play a role in this year's Hats Off to Country event.
"We're always supportive of country music here in Tamworth and being involved in this event is a great way to do it," Mr Krsulja said.
"This year we will have 13 artists and during the online show I will be taking them around to some of the different places on the property like the cottage, and the woolshed, which means people will get a bit of a look at what happens behind the scenes."
Concerts will be streamed live on the Hats Off To Country Facebook page from July 9 to July 12.
For more information on shows and artists visit: www.hatsofftocountry.com.au.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
