Top 15 Attractions and Activities in Tamworth, Australia

The second-largest country music event globally, following Nashville, takes place in this mid-sized town located in the North Western region of New South Wales.

Renowned for its equine livestock and equestrian events, Tamworth serves as an ideal venue for a ten-day country music celebration every January. This event features thousands of live performances, an awards ceremony, and various side events, ranging from amusement rides to rodeos.

If you visit at any other time, you can explore the history of Australian country music at the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame, highlighted by the Big Golden Guitar, an unmistakable 12-meter instrument situated prominently outside.

In 1888, Tamworth became the first town in Australia to install electric street lights, and visitors can learn about this historical milestone at the old power station.

1. Tamworth Marsupial Park

Situated in the hills above Tamworth, this natural oasis offers an opportunity to engage with the wildlife of New South Wales.

At the expansive 14-hectare Tamworth Marsupial Park, families can interact with kangaroos, wallabies, emus, and Indian peacocks.

The park also features a remarkable free-flight aviary, scenic walking tracks throughout picturesque bushland, and an extensive adventure playground with zones suitable for different age groups.

The delightful cockatoos, corellas, and galahs often approach visitors, eager for affection and interaction.

This attraction is conveniently located on the Kamilaroi Walking Track, connecting it to the Oxley Lookout to the west and the summit of Flagstaff Mountain to the east.

2. Tamworth Country Music Festival

Each year, hundreds of thousands of country music enthusiasts from around the globe flock to Tamworth for this iconic event, spanning ten days from mid to late January.

This festival stands as the largest music event in the Southern Hemisphere, making accommodations scarce throughout the duration, with many establishments fully booked a year in advance.

In a typical year, over 700 artists participate in more than 2,800 scheduled performances; additionally, music fills the town, with Peel Street transforming into a significant stage featuring up to 600 buskers at once.

The festival culminates with the Golden Guitar Awards, the most prestigious award ceremony in Australian country music.

Fans can interact closely with their favorite artists at the FanZone, while the Regional Australia Bank Family Zone offers rides and entertainment suitable for families.

3. Australian Country Music Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame, which was inaugurated in 1992, uniquely resembles a guitar when viewed from above.

This venue serves as a tribute to the legendary figures of Australian country music, including Tex Morton, Buddy Williams, Slim Dusty, and Smoky Dawson, as well as contemporary stars such as Beccy Cole, Amber Lawrence, and Adam Harvey.

Visitors can explore profiles of each artist, alongside a fascinating collection of costumes, photographs, instruments, gold LPs, and various personal artifacts, from furniture to motorcycles.

4. Walk a Country Mile Museum

The entrance fee for the Hall of Fame encompasses access to this interactive exhibition, which commenced in 2001 and relocated to the former visitor information center in 2014. This museum offers an engaging timeline of country music in Australia, tracing its origins from traditional folk ballads and convict songs in the late 18th century, through the rise of American-influenced modern country music in the 1920s and 1930s, to the flourishing contemporary industry.

The exhibition features richly detailed videos highlighting milestones in the genre’s history and the narratives within the music, as well as display cases brimming with instruments, records, posters, and other memorabilia.

5. Tamworth Regional Playground

This extensive Tamworth Regional Playground provides an invaluable resource for families and stands out as the only attraction of its kind in regional Australia.

Offering a wealth of activities, this free attraction features an outdoor gym, splash pad, café with complimentary Wi-Fi, a miniature “play town” for younger children, separate play zones for different age groups, a flying fox, bike track, an embankment slide, mammoth swings, and a sand play area.

A remarkable feature is the record-breaking “Skywalk,” which reaches heights of over nine meters, complete with four towers and three giant slides, the longest of which spans 13 meters.

6. Oxley Scenic Lookout

A short walk along the Kamilaroi Track from Tamworth Marsupial Park leads to a series of stunning lookouts that overlook the town and the Peel River.

Information boards behind the lookout platforms provide insights into the town’s history and heritage.

The ideal time to visit Oxley Scenic Lookout is around sunset, when the ridge of the Liverpool Range is illuminated with a golden hue.

The lookout area is equipped with barbecues, parking facilities, and public restrooms, with walking trails that lead to the marsupial park and Tamworth Botanical Gardens.

7. Powerstation Museum

This museum, which opened in 1988, commemorates the centenary of Tamworth being the first town in Australia to install electric street lighting.

More than 21 kilometers of electric lights were activated on November 9, 1888. Visitors can explore the Municipal Electric Showroom building (1907), which delves into the history of electricity as a public utility, showcasing an extensive collection of 20th-century electric household appliances.

Adjacent to this building is a replica of the 1888 power station, featuring the only operational John Fowler steam engines in the world, along with reproductions of the Crompton Patter No. 15 Dynamos from the same year.

The steam engines are also operated during the Tamworth Country Music Festival and select holidays throughout the year.

8. Big Golden Guitar

Throughout Australia, you’ll occasionally encounter a “big thing,” with over 150 such landmarks established as tourist attractions since the 1960s, each reflecting its locality.

Appropriately, Tamworth’s iconic structure, erected in 1988, is a magnificent representation of the Golden Guitar Awards awarded to artists during the Country Music Festival.

Located prominently on Goonoo Goonoo Road, this notable monument stands 12 meters tall and 4 meters wide, situated in front of the Big Golden Guitar tourist center.

Inside, visitors can explore Australia’s National Guitar Museum and the Gallery of Stars Wax Museum, along with a café and souvenir shop.

9. Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum

Housed within this museum are more than 50 motorcycles from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Meticulously polished and arranged in neat lines, these machines represent a myriad of manufacturers, including Norton, Triumph, Ducati, Honda, Laverda, and Velocette.

A highlight of the collection is the extremely rare late-90s MV Agusta F4 Serie Oro.

Other notable pieces include the 1956 Ducati 125cc Sport, the 1959 Velocette Viper 350, and the 1974 Norton 850cc John Players Special.

Informative fact sheets accompany each bike, and knowledgeable staff members are available to answer any inquiries.

10. Tamworth Regional Gallery

The regional gallery of Tamworth has roots dating back to 1919, when it was founded with a donation of 100 paintings and works on paper from the Australian landscape artist John Salvana.

In 2004, the gallery relocated to a contemporary building and has since received notable donations and bequests, including early Australian silverware, Aboriginal artwork from Northern Australia, and textile art from prominent Australian craftspeople.

This development has led to the Tamworth Textile Triennial, Australia’s foremost textile art exhibition, initiated in 1975.

11. Bicentennial Park

Nestled along the eastern bank of the Peel River, adjacent to Tamworth’s Central Business District, Bicentennial Park is renowned for its multimillion-dollar regional playground, which debuted in 2015. During the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the park transforms into a dynamic live stage, and as of 2020, construction was underway for a series of outdoor monuments honoring the genre’s most celebrated performers.

In addition, the park features two duck ponds, spacious grassy areas, winding paths, views towards Flagstaff Mountain, and a variety of trees that harbor numerous bats, which emerge at dusk.

12. Tamworth Botanical Gardens

The relatively recent botanical gardens of Tamworth were established in the mid-1990s in Victoria Park, extending into the adjacent Oxley Park.

A dedicated community group oversees this attraction, which covers just under 30 hectares and includes a Japanese garden, water gardens, diverse beds planted with regional arid-climate species, a New Zealand garden, a bush chapel, and ample open grassy spaces.

Inside, visitors can view botanical exhibitions and displays showcasing Aboriginal artefacts.

13. Calala Cottage Museum

Managed by the Tamworth Historical Society, Calala Cottage is an intriguing heritage site built by the town’s first mayor, Philip Gidley King, in 1875. With contributions of numerous donations over the years, the cottage boasts extensive collections from the late 19th century, including painted portraits, clothing, photographs, furniture, pre-electric kitchen equipment, home appliances, and Aboriginal artefacts.

The cottage operates with volunteer support and is open from Wednesday to Sunday.

Visitors can also see Tamworth’s oldest surviving structure, a shepherd’s hut originally constructed in 1840, on-site.

14. Chaffey Dam

This impressive dam upstream on the Peel River, completed in the late 1970s, regulates Tamworth’s water supply and rises more than 55 meters.

The main lookout offers a view of the striking reddish rock wall and the bell-shaped “morning glory” spillway, capable of discharging over 900 cubic meters of water per second.

Equipped with trails, campsites, barbecue facilities, showers, and restrooms, the reservoir serves as a popular destination for outdoor recreation.

Activities include canoeing and kayaking, trout and yellowbelly fishing, and birdwatching opportunities to observe pelicans, plovers, cormorants, ibis, and various duck species.

15. Australian Railway Monument and Rail Journeys Museum

Located in Werris Creek, approximately half an hour southwest of Tamworth, this significant railway junction brings together the Main Northern, Mungindi, and Binnaway-Werris lines.

The station here, established in 1880, is the third-largest in New South Wales and is beautifully conserved.

The museum features an extensive array of exhibits that would engross any railway enthusiast, including a remarkable model railway layout, historic tools, uniforms, documents, tickets, photographs, and video footage.

Additionally, the outdoor Australian Railway Monument pays tribute to railway workers who have lost their lives in accidents over the past 170 years.