Tamworth, New South Wales facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tamworth New South Wales
Tamworth view from Oxley Lookout
Tamworth Location in New South Wales
Population	43,874 (2021) (34th)
Established	1818 (explored) 1850 (established) 1946 (city)
Postcode(s)	2340
Elevation	404 m (1,325 ft)
Location	420 km (261 mi) from Sydney 280 km (174 mi) from Port Macquarie 105 km (65 mi) from Armidale 574 km (357 mi) from Brisbane
LGA(s)	Tamworth Regional Council
Region	New England
County	Inglis
State electorate(s)	Tamworth
Federal Division(s)	New England
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 24.7 °C 76 °F 9.8 °C 50 °F 636.1 mm 25 in

Tamworth is a city in the north-eastern part of New South Wales, Australia. It sits on the Peel River and is the biggest city in its area. In 2021, about 43,874 people lived there, making it the third largest inland city in New South Wales. Tamworth is about 318 kilometres (198 miles) from the Queensland border, almost halfway between Brisbane and Sydney.

The city is known as the "First Town of Lights" because it was the first place in Australia to use electric street lights in 1888. Tamworth is also famous as the "Country Music Capital of Australia". It's often called "Australia's answer to Nashville" because it hosts the huge Tamworth Country Music Festival every January. This festival is the second-biggest country music festival in the world after Nashville's. The city is also known as the National Equine Capital of Australia. This is because many horse events are held there, including at the amazing Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, which is the biggest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

History of Tamworth

The Kamilaroi or Gamilaroi people lived in this area long before Europeans arrived. In 1818, explorer John Oxley travelled through the Peel Valley. He said it was a "finer or more luxuriant country" and perfect for settlers.

In 1831, the first sheep stations and cattle stations were set up. A company called the Australian Agricultural Company was given a large area of land south of where Tamworth is now. By the 1830s, a small town began to grow on the Peel River's southwest bank. This is now West Tamworth. In 1850, a new public town was officially created on the other side of the river. This new town became the main settlement and was named "Tamworth" after a town in England. The railway reached Tamworth in 1878, helping the town grow.

On November 9, 1888, Tamworth became the first place in Australia to have electric street lighting powered by its own power station. This earned the town the nickname "First Town of Light."

Timeline of Key Events

• 1818 – Explorer John Oxley visits the area. He names the Peel River.
• 1831 – The first sheep and cattle farms are started.
• 1834 – The Australian Agriculture Company brings 6,000 sheep to the Tamworth region.
• 1851 – The population of Tamworth village is 254.
• 1882 – The Tamworth railway station opens.
• 1883 – Tamworth's main hospital opens.
• 1888 – The power station opens, bringing electric street lighting to Tamworth for the first time in Australia.
• 1935 – Radio 2TM begins broadcasting, becoming Tamworth's first radio station.
• 1946 – Tamworth is officially declared a town.
• 1947 – East-West Airlines starts in Tamworth, flying to Sydney.
• 1973 – The first Australasian Country Music Festival is held in Tamworth. This event grows into the huge annual Tamworth Country Music Festival.
• 1988 – The Golden Guitar, a 12-metre (39-foot) tall country music symbol, is built.
• 1999 – The Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre opens.
• 2004 – The new Tamworth Regional Council area is formed.
• 2008 – The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre opens.
• 2020 – Tamworth becomes a temporary training and isolation facility for the New Zealand Warriors rugby league team during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geography of Tamworth

Tamworth is located on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, along the Peel River. It is about 420 kilometres (260 miles) north of Sydney on the New England Highway. The city sits in a narrow part of the Peel River floodplain, at the base of the Wentworth Mounds. These mounds are part of the Moonbi Range, where the Northwest Slopes meet the Northern Tablelands. The city's elevation is around 400 metres (1,300 feet).

The Peel River flows through Tamworth from southeast to northwest. The main city centre is on the northeast bank, between the river and the Wentworth Mounds. These mounds rise to heights of 800 metres (2,600 feet) above the city. The southwest bank is much flatter, and the city's suburbs spread out to the south. Water for homes and businesses comes from Chaffey Dam, which is 44 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of the city.

The Tamworth Regional Council area includes many suburbs, towns, and villages. Some of these are Calala, East Tamworth, Hillvue, Kootingal, Moonbi, North Tamworth, South Tamworth, and West Tamworth.

Tamworth's Climate

Tamworth has a warm climate with hot summers and fairly cool winters. Temperatures can go above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) about 20-25 days a year. The average high temperature in summer is 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit), and the average low is about 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit). Winters are mild during the day, around 16-17 degrees Celsius (61-63 degrees Fahrenheit), and cool to cold at night, averaging 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit).

Rainfall happens throughout the year, with summer storms sometimes bringing heavy rain. Tamworth's rainy season, especially in January, can cause big flooding. Snow is very rare in Tamworth itself, but it does happen in higher villages nearby like Nundle. Frosts are common and can be quite strong.

People of Tamworth

St Paul's Anglican Church, West Tamworth

The 2021 census showed that 43,874 people lived in the Tamworth urban area.

• About 14.1% of the population were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
• Around 82.9% of people were born in Australia. Other common birthplaces included the Philippines, England, India, Vietnam, and New Zealand.
• Most people (85.1%) spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken included Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Punjabi, and Nepali.
• The most common religions were no religion (32.2%), Anglican (22.0%), and Catholic (21.9%).

In 2021, about 89.5% of people in Tamworth were working. The industry with the most employees was Hospitals (not including psychiatric hospitals), employing 6.1% of the workforce.

Population for Tamworth Urban Area

Suburbs of Tamworth

Tamworth City Centre

The Tamworth Post Office

The Tamworth city centre is the main business area. It is located north of the Peel River. Here you will find many shops, restaurants, and shopping centres. The Tamworth Regional Council has its main office in Peel Street. Bicentennial Park and the main cricket oval are also in this area.

Tamworth's Economy

Orchard outside Tamworth during winter

Tamworth is a key service centre for the New England and North West regions. It provides services to over 200,000 people from the surrounding areas. The retail industry is the biggest employer, followed by manufacturing and health services. Other important industries include agriculture, education, transport, and aviation.

Aviation Industry

Aviation is a big part of Tamworth's economy. This is partly because the city has great flying weather. The Tamworth Airport is home to a large maintenance base for Qantaslink's DHC8-400 planes. It also used to host a flight training academy. The Australasian Pacific Aeronautical College and the New England Institute of TAFE also offer aviation training.

Agriculture in the Region

King George Avenue near the Peel River where many farms are located

Agriculture is a very important industry in Tamworth. About 307,000 hectares (758,600 acres) of land are used for farming. This contributes $75 million to the local economy.

Key agricultural activities include raising beef cattle, sheep, and poultry. Growing grains, dairy farming, and lucerne are also important. Other farms grow alpacas, buffalo, berries, and olives. There are also wineries in the area.

Horse Events and Facilities

Australian National Equine Livestock Events Centre (AELEC), New England Highway, Tamworth, NSW

Tamworth is known as Australia's sporting horse capital. It is the main base for three major horse associations: CHA, ABCRA, and AQHA. Many of Australia's most important horse events happen in Tamworth. These include international, national, and state championships. The NCHA Futurity, Australia's richest sporting horse event, is also held here.

The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) is a world-class facility built by the Tamworth Regional Council. It cost $30 million and opened in 2008. The centre has an indoor arena that can seat 3,360 people. It also has stables for over 478 horses and a covered area for selling livestock. Many horse associations use this centre for their events.

Shopping and Retail

Tamworth Hotel in Marius Street

Tamworth is the biggest shopping centre for the New England and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales. Retail employs 22.5% of the working population, making it the largest employer in the city.

Peel Street is the main shopping area in Tamworth's city centre. It has hundreds of shops, restaurants, cafes, and banks. You can find a large Target department store there.

Tamworth has many shopping centres. Most are in the city centre, but some are in other suburbs:

• Tamworth Town Plaza is in the city centre with 42 shops, including Coles and Kmart.
• Centrepoint Shopping Centre is a large centre in the city centre. It has a supermarket, a cinema complex with five screens, a performing arts theatre (Capitol Theatre), six restaurants, a food court, and 40 specialty shops.
• Tamworth Shopping World is in West Tamworth. It has over 50 specialty shops and a food court.
• Northgate Shopping Centre in North Tamworth has a Coles supermarket and 10 specialty shops.
• Southgate Shopping Centre in South Tamworth was the first mall built in Tamworth. It has Coles and other shops.

Tourism in Tamworth

Tourism is a big industry in Tamworth, bringing in $239 million each year. The biggest attraction is the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival. This is the largest event of its kind in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Other attractions include Tamworth's museums and art galleries. Nearby towns like Barraba (popular for birdwatching) and Nundle are also popular destinations.

Country Music Festival

Tamworth is most famous for its annual Tamworth Country Music Festival (TCMF). It runs for 10 days in mid to late January, sometimes including Australia Day. The TCMF is the second-biggest country music festival in the world. Thousands of Australian and international country music artists perform live shows around the clock. About 100,000 people visit Tamworth for the festival each year. Many stay for a long time, with some even camping along the Peel River.

On the last Saturday of the festival, the Toyota Country Music Cavalcade parades down Peel Street. The festival ends with the important Golden Guitar Awards. Tamworth also celebrates country music with the 'Big Golden Guitar' monument, the Wax Museum, and the Hands of Fame Park.

Venues for Events

Tamworth Capitol Theatre

The Tamworth Capitol Theatre has a 405-seat auditorium with two levels of seating. It has professional lighting, a full sound system, and dressing rooms. It is used for live theatre and cinema shows. It hosts dance, drama, music, educational events, and community gatherings. During the Country Music Festival, the Capitol Theatre hosts three different shows each day.

Tamworth Town Hall

The Tamworth Town Hall is a historic building in the Tamworth Central Business District. It is used for events, conferences, and concerts. It was built in 1934 and can seat 1,074 people.

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre

The Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre is in the suburb of Hillvue. It is a large, multi-purpose centre that can seat 5,100 people. It is the biggest centre of its kind outside the major cities of New South Wales and south-east Queensland.

Education in Tamworth

Tamworth has many schools and educational institutions:

• University of New England (campus)
• University of Newcastle (campus)
• TAFE New England (vocational training)
• Calrossy Anglican School
• Carinya Christian School
• Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School
• Hillvue Public School
• Liberty College
• McCarthy Catholic College
• Nemingha Public School
• Oxley High School
• Peel High School
• St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
• St Edwards Catholic Primary School
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
• Tamworth Public School
• Tamworth High School
• Tamworth South Public School
• Tamworth West Public School
• Westdale Public School

Sports in Tamworth

Sport is a very important part of Tamworth's culture. Over 50 different sports are played by the community. Many big annual and one-off sporting events are held in the city because of its many facilities. There are over 180 sporting clubs in the Tamworth region. The region has strong competitions in basketball, cricket, football (soccer), field hockey, netball, rugby league, rugby union, and Aussie rules football.

Tamworth has produced many famous sportspeople, including cricketers, Olympic shooters, hockey players, and rugby league players. The Northern Inland Academy of Sport, started in 1992, helps talented young sportspeople develop their skills.

Sports Facilities

Tamworth has a wide range of sports facilities:

• An athletic track
• Australian rules football grounds
• Baseball diamonds
• Indoor basketball courts
• Indoor and outdoor cricket pitches
• Two 18-hole golf courses
• A gymnastics centre
• Hockey fields
• The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre for horse sports
• Eleven bowling greens
• A kart-racing track, a speedway track, and a motocross track
• Netball courts (asphalt, grass, and indoor)
• Rugby league and union fields
• Shooting ranges
• Soccer fields (senior, junior, and indoor)
• Softball diamonds
• Squash courts
• Two Olympic swimming pools and one indoor pool
• Tennis courts (hard, synthetic, clay, and indoor)
• Two tenpin bowling centres
• 16 touch football/Oztag fields
• Volleyball courts (indoor and beach)
• Two water polo pools
• An awesome mountain bike track with different difficulty levels, including a Jump Line and black downhill tracks.

The Oakburn Park motorsports complex, built in 1996, is located 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) northwest of the city. It has speedway and motocross circuits.

Senior Sports Teams

Tamworth Conservatorium of Music

Culture and Fun

Performing Arts

• CAPERS is a show held every two years at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre. It features talented primary and high school students from public schools in the North-West region.
• The Northwest Dance Festival also takes place in Tamworth, showcasing a variety of dances from public schools.
• The Tamworth Eisteddfod is an annual competition in May and June. It includes sections for speech, drama, debating, music, and dance.
• The Tamworth Musical Society performs musicals like "Grease" and "Les Misérables" at the Tamworth Capitol Theatre.
• The Tamworth Regional Conservatorium of Music is a big part of the performing arts scene. Over 1,000 students, from ages four to 75, learn more than 21 different instruments there.

Parks and Gardens

Bicentennial Park

Tamworth has several important parks, including Anzac Park, Bicentennial Park, and The Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens. The botanical gardens were started in 1995 and cover an area of 28 hectares (69 acres). They protect the local plants and also display plants from other parts of Australia and the world. Bicentennial Park is known for its calm waters and many wild ducks.

Historic Places

Tamworth has many places listed for their historical importance:

• Fitzroy Street: Tamworth Post Office
• King George V Memorial Avenue (East): King George V Avenue of Memorial English Oaks
• Main Northern railway: Peel River railway bridge
• Main Northern railway: Tamworth railway station
• Marius Street (East): Dominican Roman Catholic Convent
• Peel Street (corner): Tamworth Peel Barracks

Museums to Visit

Tamworth Power Station Museum

Tamworth was the first town in Australia to light its streets with electricity from a town-owned power station in 1888. The Tamworth Power Station Museum tells the story of how the town developed electric street lighting. It shows the journey from early oil lamps in 1876 and gas lamps in 1882 to the first electric lights. The museum has one of Australia's largest collections of old electrical appliances from the early 1900s.

Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum

The Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum has over 50 motorcycles from the 1950s to the 1980s. It specializes in brands like Ducati, Triumph, Honda, Velocette, and Laverda. The museum even has a rare MV Agusta F4 Serie Oro motorcycle.

Churches

Cross of Light at Tamworth Lookout

Since 2000, the churches in Tamworth have held a free public festival called "Lifefest" in Bicentennial Park. This event happens on a Saturday in July and includes stalls with free food, drinks, games, and showbags. There are also drama presentations, music performances, and displays from police, fire brigade, and ambulance staff.

Media in Tamworth

Tamworth is a regional centre for media in the New England area. Much of the region's history is kept at the Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive.

Newspapers

• Northern Daily Leader is a local newspaper published Monday to Saturday. It covers local and regional news.
• Tamworth Times is a free weekly paper.

Television

Tamworth receives television services from three commercial networks and two public broadcasters:

• Seven (including 7two, 7mate, 7Bravo, 7flix)
• Nine (NBN, including 9Go!, 9Gem, 9Life)
• 10 (WIN Northern NSW, including 10 Peach Comedy, 10 Bold Drama, Sky News Regional)
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC TV, ABC TV Plus/ABC Kids, ABC Me, ABC News)
• Special Broadcasting Service (SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Food, SBS World Movies, SBS WorldWatch, NITV)

The Seven Network and Nine Network both have local news bulletins for the North West region.

Radio

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) broadcasts five radio stations in Tamworth:

• ABC New England North West 648 AM / 99.1 FM
• ABC News Radio 91.7 FM
• ABC Radio National 93.9 FM / 100.7 FM
• ABC Classic FM 96.7 FM / 103.1 FM
• Triple J 94.7 FM / 99.9 FM

Other local radio stations include:

• 2TM Tamworth 1287 AM (Tamworth's first radio station)
• 92.9 FM
• 88.9 FM (community station)
• Radio Rhema 89.7 FM (Christian community radio)

Transport in Tamworth

Front of Tamworth station

Tamworth Airport has daily flights to Sydney Airport with QantasLink. Link Airways also offers regular flights between Brisbane and Tamworth.

Tamworth station is on the Main Northern railway line. The NSW TrainLink Xplorer train service runs between Sydney and Armidale, with coaches continuing to Tenterfield. Other NSW TrainLink coaches go to Dubbo and Inverell.

Local bus services are provided by Tamworth Buslines. They also offer services to nearby towns like Quirindi, Manilla, and Bendemeer.

Sister Cities

Tamworth has several sister cities around the world:

Country	City (and Province or State)
New Zealand	Gore
United States	Nashville, Tennessee
Japan	Sannohe, Aomori
England	Tamworth
China	Chaoyang District, Beijing
Malaysia	Kulim District

Attractions in Tamworth

Tamworth's old Visitor Information Centre, built in the shape of a guitar.

• Calala Cottage
• Endeavour Park (Marsupial Park)
• Golden Guitar
• Oxley Park Lookout
• Power Station Museum
• Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens
• Tamworth Regional Gallery
• The Big Big Mac
• Wax Museum

Notable People from Tamworth

Academic

• Bronwyn Davies – Scholar and author
• Stephen R Kane – Professor of Planetary Astrophysics
• Warren R Rodwell – University teacher and hostage survivor

Arts, Entertainment, and Media

• Peter Cousens – Actor
• Mark Ferguson – TV newsreader
• Belinda Giblin – Actress
• Kylie Gillies – TV presenter
• Pixie Jenkins – Musician
• Ezra Lee – Musician, singer, songwriter
• Tony Martin – Actor
• Lawrie Minson – Musician, songwriter
• Matt Moran – Chef, TV personality
• Philip Quast – Actor, singer
• Ivan Sen – Film director, writer
• Rebecca Smart – Actress
• Don Spencer – Musician, author, TV presenter
• Felicity Urquhart – Singer, songwriter

Military

• Michael James Birchell – A soldier who died in the Vietnam War

Images for kids

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  Tamworth view from Oxley Lookout

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  St Paul's Anglican Church, West Tamworth

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  The Tamworth Post Office

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  Orchard outside Tamworth during winter

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  King George Avenue near the Peel River where many farms are located

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  Australian National Equine Livestock Events Centre (AELEC), New England Highway, Tamworth, NSW

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  Tamworth Hotel in Marius Street

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  Tamworth Golf Course

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  Tamworth Conservatorium of Music

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  Bicentennial Park

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  Cross of Light at Tamworth Lookout

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  Tamworth's old Visitor Information Centre, built in the shape of a guitar.

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  Front of Tamworth station

See also

In Spanish: Tamworth (Nueva Gales del Sur) para niños