While it has not run yearly, the Crookwell Country Weekend has a long 40-year history.
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Now, the countdown has begun for its reinvention on Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19.
Kicking off on the Saturday afternoon, the two-day community festival starts with a street parade, busking, and ute competitions before the showground gates open for a music festival.
The live concert will feature sets from music artists across genres from bush to country, rock to pop, culminating in a pyro-musical production, The Colours of the Outback.
The line-up includes Ross Wilson, Shannon Noll, Isaiah Firebrace, Catherine Britt, The Bushwackers (who performed at the inaugural Crookwell Country Weekend) and Brittany Maggs.
Starting in the 1980s, people may be familiar with the Crookwell Country Weekend, formerly the Crookwell Irish Festival, before it became the Crookwell Potato Festival.
It is a celebration of Australian rural life through the generations and follows the hugely successful inaugural Crookwell Christmas Twilight Fair in 2022, which attracted about 10,000 people who came to celebrate the festive season.
The event will significantly boost local businesses in the Upper Lachlan Shire as they recover from a local economy hit hard by drought, fire, COVID-19, and floods.
It is intended that the Christmas Twilight Fair and the Crookwell Country Weekend will become sustainable annual events to stimulate the shire's visitor economy by raising awareness of the region.
According to a Destination NSW report, visitors spend $2980 every minute in southern NSW, representing about $4.291 million daily.
Upper Lachlan Shire Council economic development and tourism manager Christiane Cocum wants the shire and the Southern Tablelands to "tap into" some of that spending and showcase to tourists the "hidden gem" that is Crookwell.
"We've been able to generate a significant amount of PR and marketing in the leadup to both events, and that's been an amazing promotion for our shire, which has put our region on the map statewide and nationally," Mrs Cocum said.
"Through our events, the marketing and publicity we have generated, and through people's experience at our events so far, we are gaining a reputation for hosting amazing events that have an incredible vibe and are well done - that's a great place for us to be so early on."
Mrs Cocum said the Christmas Twilight Fair attracted a huge influx of visitors from Sydney, the Illawarra, ACT, Southern Tablelands and Central West.
"It resulted in a significant increase in our visitor spend, and local businesses had an amazing experience," she said.
"For the upcoming Country Weekend, we already see accommodation fully booked. It really does have a huge impact on our local economy."
Goulburn's Stockade Brew Co managing director Robert Hazel and his team quickly put their hands up and supported the Country Weekend.
"It is important for everyone to do their part and support amazing events like the Crookwell Country Weekend," Mr Hazel said.
"It also gives us an ideal opportunity to showcase locally brewed beers. We take great pride in what we make and how we produce it - so it's only natural for us to share it with the community and at this event."
With close to 90 employees in Goulburn, Stockade Brew Co is one of the largest private employers in the town.
"Our people are predominantly local, so for us to link with local events makes sense; there's a feeling of mutual success. The more people the Southern Tablelands and Upper Lachlan Shire attract, the more exposure we get and the more people we can recruit and continue to grow a successful business for our community.
"We love what we do here and want to keep doing it and ensure our community is as proud of it as we are."
Upper Lachlan Shire Council general manager Colleen Worthy also pointed out regional events' benefits in increased local expenditure and job creation.
"Economic development is largely about two main elements; quality of life and jobs. Events in our shire's 11 towns and villages meet both," Mrs Worthy said.
"We are showcasing what Crookwell has to offer - putting Crookwell on the map, so to speak - and the Upper Lachlan is truly a beautiful shire offering so much to residents and businesses."
Mrs Worthy said the event would give local businesses a much-needed financial boost.
"Events bring joy and engagement to our residents and visitors, and events bring financial returns to our local businesses, which are much needed following three years of fire, droughts, flood, and COVID-19 in the last three years," she said.
"After COVID-19, we got a grant for an Easter event. Hundreds turned out, and many came from Goulburn as well; then we had the Christmas Twilight Fair, and more than half the people came from Canberra, Goulburn, and the Southern Highlands.
"They had an extremely positive experience - those people are already spreading the word, and many will be back, and more will come to enjoy what our rural lifestyle can offer."
The two-day festival has entertainment for every age at a very affordable price point.
The street parade kicks off at 9am on Saturday, March 18, followed by the eight-hour live concert for ticket holders at 12.30pm ($75 for adults, $50 for seniors and concession cards, $25 for children under the age of 17, and free for three years and under).
On Sunday, March 19, the showground will host the day festival, with entry prices ranging from $5 to $10. The day will feature food trucks, bars, bushranger reenactments, working bullock, draught horse and camel teams, historic pioneer demonstrations, roving performers, kids' zone, camel rides, Royal Mail Coach and hay wagon rides.
To purchase tickets, visit trybooking.com
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