54 Years Later, Tamworth Festival Boss Takes Final Bow

Barry Harley fell in love with people, not guitars, and that made all the difference.

In 1973, the young Myer display maker agreed to help organize a small country music festival in Tamworth, Australia. There was just one problem: he preferred The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to anything with a twang.

"Good music is good music," Harley said. But it wasn't the music that captured his heart—it was the country music family itself.

That family kept him around for 54 festivals. Harley took over as coordinator in 2015 and recently received the Order of Australia Medal for his service. Now, at age 73, he's taking his final bow after the January 2026 event.

The growth he's witnessed tells an incredible story. The first festival in 1973 was so empty "you could probably fire a cannon up the street and you wouldn't hit anyone," Harley recalled. The town hall held maybe 200 or 300 people for the first Golden Guitar Awards.

Today, more than 300,000 people flood Tamworth each January. They come for 700 performers across 80 venues, making it the largest country music festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

Harley credits the genre's evolution for keeping the festival fresh. As country music broadened its sound and appeal over five decades, the festival naturally attracted new audiences without forcing wholesale changes.

Why This Inspires

Musicians say Harley's secret weapon was treating everyone equally. Max Jackson, who won the festival's Star-Maker competition and later became an ambassador, said Harley gave the same attention to buskers getting their first guitar as he did to Golden Guitar winners.

"He really makes it possible for everyone to have an opportunity and for everyone to know how important they are," Jackson said. She's already planning to finally have that beer with Harley at a show—something impossible when he was always working.

Third-generation Tamworth musician Ashleigh Dallas watched Harley support her entire family across decades. "I've seen his kids grow up as well," she said. "That's not going to change just because his role is changing."

Harley admits he hasn't fully planned for life after the festival. "The job has always been not only my work, but it's been my social life, it's been my hobby, it's been my sport all rolled into one," he said.

Joel Ulbricht will take over next year, learning from the master during this final festival. But Harley isn't disappearing—he'll continue in an advisory role, sharing five decades of wisdom.

When asked about his legacy, Harley deflected credit to the hundreds of people who built the festival together over 54 years—a fitting response from someone who always put the family first.