YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE Serving the Hunter for over 20 years with a readership over 4,000 weekly! The only way to find out what’s going on!
Missed an issue? www.huntervalleyprinting.com.au/Pages/Entertainer.php FREE Thursday 16th January, 2014 Countdown to the 42nd See inside TV Guide Tamworth Country Music Festival ADDING TO YEAR S By Laura Sykes WIN ! The Tamworth Country Music Festival has long been one of the nation’s - a double pass to Majestic Cinemas. and indeed the world’s - most loved music festivals and is renowned for See page 2 for details great atmosphere, great entertainment, and great music no matter where you go in the town. From the buskers in Peel Street to booked-out concert venues and open-house pub gigs, the town comes alive and will do so for the 42nd time this month with the 2014 Tamworth Country Music Festival. Australia Day long weekend in 1968 saw the Tamworth branch of the Modern Country Music Association host a talent quest. This event is held by many to be the predecessor of the festival that country music lovers from all over Australia know and love today, however the first official year of the festival is set at 1973, when the Country Music Awards were held by Radio 2TM in support of the Country Music Capital promotion with other events including the Bluegrass Championship,
Image: The Golden Guitar, Tamworth. Continued page 2
LaCityTravel giving you the best deals – see page 10
Next Race Day Friday, 24 January 2014 AUSTRALIA DAY RACE DAY 8 TAB races Free gate entry - open 11.30am
434 Bunnan Road Scone NSW Tel: 02 6545 1607 [email protected]
sconeraceclub.com.au SRC10055
Offering an extensive hire range of contemporary chairs, stools, ottomans, lounges, high bars, coffee / dining / cafe tables, candelabras, chandeliers and other decorative lighting, cutlery, crockery, glassware, linen, table centres, chair covers + sashes, stage, dancefloor + much more all housed in our local warehouse. Hire quantities available for 129 Kelly Street, parties / functions of up to 200+ guests. Scone Vintage + rustic wedding decor and antiques also available.
Visit our recently updated website to view our exciting new product ranges.
Amelia Wilkinson / 0400 099 761 / [email protected] / www.theeventstoreroom.com.au
We are the ONLY Hunter station broadcasting the SUMMER OF SPORTS - Saturday & Sundays, from noon until 4pm. Covering all major sports with the team’s usual blend of merciless humour and serious comment. what’s on Countdown to the 42nd Tamworth Country
Music Festival By Laura Sykes Continued from front page
Hands of Fame Roll of Renown, the Tamworth Pro Rodeo and several others. It was also the year that a great tradition within the festival was born – the buskers of Peel Street. This month the streets of Tamworth will come to life between the dates of January 17 and 26. The pinnacle of the festival comes on the last Saturday in January each year with the red carpet event - the Golden Guitar Awards. Recognised as one of the top ten music festivals in the world, celebrities, hopefuls and just plain music-lovers alike all congregate to celebrate country music, meet up with friends and have a true blue good time. Stroll along Peel Street and listen to some of the best country musician hopefuls from all over Australia. You’ll hear some amazing voices, singing everything from favourite old Slim Dusty covers to original songs. Big names like Kasey Chambers, Keith Urban and Troy Cassar-Daley are just some names you’ll recognise who once nervously opened their voices and hearts up for the crowds on Peel Street. Around 55,000 visitors turn up every year, and while some locals may find it an inconvenience not to be able to find a park directly outside their favourite shop, Tamworth rejoices at the influx of people for ten days each year. Before the days of the festival, locals used to head to the coast every January to escape the heat and occasional summer flood, as ‘nothing much happened between Christmas and the schools going back in February’. The Tamworth Country Music Festival changed all that, and put the town on the map in a big way. And while locals breathe a sigh of relief when the thousands of extra visitors leave at the end, they wouldn’t give up their festival for the world. If you want to find out more information about the 2014 Tamworth Country Music Festival, you can look online at www.tamworthcountrymusic.com. au, with new updates and information continually being added in the lead up to this year’s event. Images: [Left] Keith Urban [Middle] Lee Kernaghan [Right] Adam Harvey and Troy Cassar-Daley.
Program information Thurs 16th to Wed 22nd January The Entertainer in conjunction with Majestic Cinemas are giving away two double passes each week to two lucky readers.
Look for the handwritten word “WINNER” along with the editor’s signature on this page above HVP logo. &%" ' ()* Present the winning Entertainer edition to the Muswellbrook office of Hunter Valley !"#$ %& Printing, 6 Wilkins Street Muswellbrook and collect your passes. (must be claimed within one week of publication date)
!"'S , - !" #$ %$ Professional, friendly service - “The quiet one” s !LL GROUND FLOOR ROOMSDISABLED ACCESS s 7ALKING DISTANCE TO #"$ s 7IFI ACCESS Scone - Horse Capital of Australia s /PEN FOR BREAKFAST DAYS AM AM OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 9 Guernsey Street Scone s &ULLY