Don your cowboy boots and head on down to the 2012
Urban Country Music Festival. Attracting visitors from far and wide this is a unique festival that will appeal to country music fans and non country music fans alike.
Spanning the four days over the May long weekend (4-7 May 2012) the festival is a non stop hive of activity spread primarily across 3 precincts, all within walking distance of each other.
The majority of the festival is FREE, there are just 5 ticketed events - the Friday and Saturday night concerts, Bush Poets Breakfast, Urban Rodeo and Line Dancing & Clogging Socials. Tickets can be pre-purchased via the
website at a discounted price, or at the gate.
The opening concert on Friday night features high profile artists including Shannon Noll, Beccy Cole and Lee Kernaghan. The Saturday night concert sees country giants Troy Cassar-Daly and Adam Harvey take to the stage. The Urban Blaze concert on Sunday night features not only musical greats, but food, rides and a spectacular fireworks display.
Spend the days exploring the
Village Precinct's food and market stalls, multiple stages and musical acts, and check out the buskers scattered throughout the village. Put on your dancing shoes, head to the
Urban Dance Tent and have a go at the Clogging and Line dancing workshops - open to all ages and all fitness levels. Or for something a little more laidback, head to the
Songwriters Cafe and chill out to the soothing sounds of country songwriters while sipping a coffee, or perhaps a wine or cold beer.
Witness the
Talent Search heats, Sunday's
Bluegrass Brunch or
New Zealand Showcase and Monday's
Gospel Concert. Broaden your cultural horizons at the
Art Competition where entrants are asked to portray their best representation of Urban Country, using any medium of their choosing.
For the shoppers, Sunday is the best day with hundreds of stalls that are in addition to the daily festival
markets. No doubt my husband will slip off to check out the
Beaut Ute Competition and the
Stockmans Arena displays. And with a whole area and stage devoted to children's entertainment and activities that include painting and giant games, there is something at this festival for the whole family.
The festival concludes with a
Farewell Concert on the Monday featuring emerging and established country music performers.
There is far too much going on at this festival to list in one article so check out the
website or the
program for more details.
