TAMWORTH, NSW, AUSTRALIA
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Committee Chair: Becky Meagher
To get connected with Tamworth, contact committee chair Becky Meagher (email)
Like Nashville, Tamworth is a regional centre and a hub for industry, commerce, education and tourism. Located in the state of New South Wales, Tamworth is 260 miles northwest of Sydney and 360 miles southwest of Brisbane, capitals, respectively of New South Wales and Queensland.. Tamworth became Nashville's 7th sister city in June 2013.
Founded in the mid-19th century, Tamworth was the first Australian city to install electric streetlights and is known to some as the “First City of Lights.” It is, however, best known as the “Country Music Capital of Australia” as it hosts the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, a gathering of country music devotees lasting 11 days and culminating in the “Golden Guitar” Awards, the Australian equivalent of our own Country Music Association Awards.
The city, 2011 pop. 56,294, is also home to an equine industry which features the headquarters of the three main Australian equine organizations. The city also hosts many of the major horse-related competitions for Australia.
Tamworth’s beginning dates back to the 1830s when the area became known as sheep-raising country; the first herd of 6,000 arrived there in 1834. By 1851, the census showed 251 whites living in the settlement; ten years later 654 whites called Tamworth home. Electric power was introduced in 1888 and the settlement officially became known as a city in 1946, gaining its first airline the following year.
The city hosted its first music festival in 1973, just one year after the Nashville event now known as the C.M.A. Music Festival was born. The Tamworth event now attracts more than 65,000 attendees, many of whom stay for most of the eleven days of near non-stop musical events.
Though it may seem like a very small municipality for Nashville to take on as its 7th Sister City partnership, the statement, “it’s all relative” is instructive here. Nashville is America’s 25th largest city; Tamworth is ranked as Australia’s 35th largest.
Tamworth is also an area centre for various sporting events and has produced many top footballers, both the soccer and Australian rules variety. Felicity Urquhart, who has established TV and radio careers as well as being one of the nation’s top country artists, is the city’s best-known musical product.
Tamworth Facts:
City population: 41,810
Area: 3,819 square miles
Country population: 23,130,000
State: New South Wales
Mayor: Col Murray
Attractions:
Australian Country Music Hall of Fame
Australian Railway Monument and Rail Journeys Museum
Bicentennial Park
Capitol Theatre
The Big Golden Guitar Tourist Centre
Oxley Park Lookout
Powerstation Museum
Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum
Tamworth Botanical Gardens
Tamworth Farmers Market
Tamworth Regional Gallery
Tamworth Marsupial Park
Walk A Country Mile Museum
Related links:
www.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/
www.tcmf.com.au/
View map
To get connected with Tamworth, contact committee chair Becky Meagher (email)
Like Nashville, Tamworth is a regional centre and a hub for industry, commerce, education and tourism. Located in the state of New South Wales, Tamworth is 260 miles northwest of Sydney and 360 miles southwest of Brisbane, capitals, respectively of New South Wales and Queensland.. Tamworth became Nashville's 7th sister city in June 2013.
Founded in the mid-19th century, Tamworth was the first Australian city to install electric streetlights and is known to some as the “First City of Lights.” It is, however, best known as the “Country Music Capital of Australia” as it hosts the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, a gathering of country music devotees lasting 11 days and culminating in the “Golden Guitar” Awards, the Australian equivalent of our own Country Music Association Awards.
The city, 2011 pop. 56,294, is also home to an equine industry which features the headquarters of the three main Australian equine organizations. The city also hosts many of the major horse-related competitions for Australia.
Tamworth’s beginning dates back to the 1830s when the area became known as sheep-raising country; the first herd of 6,000 arrived there in 1834. By 1851, the census showed 251 whites living in the settlement; ten years later 654 whites called Tamworth home. Electric power was introduced in 1888 and the settlement officially became known as a city in 1946, gaining its first airline the following year.
The city hosted its first music festival in 1973, just one year after the Nashville event now known as the C.M.A. Music Festival was born. The Tamworth event now attracts more than 65,000 attendees, many of whom stay for most of the eleven days of near non-stop musical events.
Though it may seem like a very small municipality for Nashville to take on as its 7th Sister City partnership, the statement, “it’s all relative” is instructive here. Nashville is America’s 25th largest city; Tamworth is ranked as Australia’s 35th largest.
Tamworth is also an area centre for various sporting events and has produced many top footballers, both the soccer and Australian rules variety. Felicity Urquhart, who has established TV and radio careers as well as being one of the nation’s top country artists, is the city’s best-known musical product.
Tamworth Facts:
City population: 41,810
Area: 3,819 square miles
Country population: 23,130,000
State: New South Wales
Mayor: Col Murray
Attractions:
Australian Country Music Hall of Fame
Australian Railway Monument and Rail Journeys Museum
Bicentennial Park
Capitol Theatre
The Big Golden Guitar Tourist Centre
Oxley Park Lookout
Powerstation Museum
Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum
Tamworth Botanical Gardens
Tamworth Farmers Market
Tamworth Regional Gallery
Tamworth Marsupial Park
Walk A Country Mile Museum
Related links:
www.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/
www.tcmf.com.au/
View map