Tamworth's Hats Off to Country returns for its 23rd year

The Hats Off to Country music festival will take place over four days from Thursday July 6 to Sunday July 9, featuring free concerts from a variety of artists as well as ticketed shows from some of the biggest names in Australian country music.

"Usually the hats off festival is all free shows, but this year we've got a few very special shows that are ticketed at some of the venues around town," Tamworth Regional Council's Country Music Coordinator Cheryl Brown said.

READ ALSO:

The festival weekend will see scores of concerts from more than 60 artists across 13 Tamworth venues, including the West Tamworth League Club, The Longyard Hotel in South Tamworth, and the Nemingha Tavern just to name a few.

Some of the biggest names in attendance will be multiple Golden Guitar-winning duo Beccy Cole and Adam Harvey, seven-time Golden Guitar winner for Music Video of the Year Duncan Toombs, and 2023 Toyota Star Maker winner Loren Ryan.

This year's Best of the Buskers winner and Tamworth local Lane Pittman will also be performing, headlining a ticketed show at The Pub in West Tamworth on Saturday, July 8, just before embarking on a national tour of Australia and New Zealand with U.S. country sensation Luke Combs.

"It's going to be a really great time. We've got a full-band show and it's just before we go on national tour with Luke Combs so it's going to be a really fun time," Mr Pittman said.

Even with cost of living pressures, organisers are hoping the low price of tickets and the plethora of free shows will attract visitors and bring out locals

"The ticketed shows start from $10 ... right up to $40. For the people who want to go to those shows that's absolutely affordable and there's plenty of time to start saving, putting a few dollars away until concerts are on in three month's time. We're nice and early this year, which is really good," Ms Brown said.

Other events will include the Tudor Hotel's 'Country Karaoke' on Thursday night, as well as the popular Cowboy Crawl, which for $10 takes participants to four different venues with live music by coach on Saturday night.

Budding musicians who haven't got a gig but are interested in performing are encouraged to head to the Atrium Arcade for their Walk-Up sessions on Friday and Saturday, from 10am to 2pm.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: