About Tamworth
Tamworth is a city in the New England region of
New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel
River, Tamworth is the major regional centre for
the New England region and is in the local
government area of Tamworth Regional
Council. Approximately 318 km from the
Queensland border, South Tamworth is located
almost midway between Brisbane and Sydney,
the two largest cities on the Australian east
coast. In 2010, Tamworth had an estimated
population of 47,595 people. At the 2011
Census, the urban centre of Tamworth
had a population of 36,131.
The city is known as the "First City of Lights",
being the first place in Australia to use electric
street lights in 1888. Tamworth is also famous as
the "Country Music Capital of Australia",
annually hosting the Tamworth Country Music
Festival in late January; the second biggest
country music festival in the world. South
Tamworth is recognised as the "National
Equine Capital of Australia"[because of the high
number of equine events held in the city and
the construction of the world class Australian
Equine and Livestock Events Centre, the biggest
of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.