Country festival mooted

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 557, 11 October 1994, Page 8

Country festival mooted

There is a possibility that Ohakune will be holding a country music festival in early February next year. A representative of the Sakone Backing Band and

TP Promotions, Ms Georgie Templeton, was in Ohakune last week to check out local amenities such as accommodation and a suitable venue to stage what could become a major annual event for the Waimarino The intention is to stage a three-day country and western music festival that will attract bands and fans from all over the country during W aitangi Day weekend. The central North Island location of Ohakune and the availability of summer-time

accommodation appeals to Ms Templeton who also looked at the Ohakune Club and its two-hectare site in Goldfinch Street. The use of the Ohakune Club site would provide the festival organisers with the option of staging the event both indoors (on the top floor) and/or outdoors (possibly under a giant marquee in the event of bad weather) . Other North Island towns are being looked at by Ms Templeton but if Ohakune is selected and this first country music festival is a

success the event could become an annual one for Ohakune in the same way that Tamworth in New South Wales has become the popular country and western music capital of Australia.