Tamworth Country Music Festival 2027 Campervan Hire and Camping Guide

Which rental brands suit the Tamworth Country Music Festival?

Ten brands we compare returned campervans or motorhomes from Sydney in our live search for Wednesday 13 to Monday 25 January 2027: Apollo, Britz, Campervan Village, Camperman, Jucy, Maui, Mighty, Spaceships, Star RV and Travellers Autobarn, with 58 vehicles in total. We found no festival-specific rental rules for Tamworth, so read each brand's terms before you book. The festival's own rules matter more: the Riverside campground charges one site fee per vehicle and has no powered sites.

• Budget two to three sleepers: Campervan Village (Mini Camper with a rooftop tent, Aventus, Johnny Feelgood, Alice Chillgood), Camperman (Juliette 2-3, Maxie 3), Spaceships (Alpha, Beta), Jucy (Chill'd Cloudbreak, Chill'd Malibu, Coaster), Travellers Autobarn (Budgie, Chubby, Hitop, Kuga) and Mighty (HiLITE, Highball, DeLITE) suit couples who will use the campground showers and toilets.
• Self-contained with shower and toilet: Camperman Maxie 4, Mighty Duo, Deuce and Deuce Plus, Apollo Euro Mini, Euro Tourer and Euro Plus, Britz Trailblazer, Star RV Polaris 2 and Maui Ultima Plus suit travellers who want a bathroom on board, which helps at the busy Riverside amenities.
• Four to six berths for families and groups: Jucy Crib Plus, Condo and Chill'd Big Kahuna, Spaceships Beta 4 Berth, Travellers Autobarn Hi5, Britz Voyager, Mighty Double Up and Big Six, Apollo Euro Quest, Euro Camper and Euro Deluxe, Maui Cascade and Sunset, and Star RV Polaris 6.
• 4WD: Britz Warrior 4WD, Apollo 4WD Adventure Camper, Mighty 4WD Camper and Campervan Village D5 4x4, Grip 4x4 Camper and Desert Sands, if you plan to explore beyond the sealed roads after the festival.

Watch your return date. When we searched with a return on Tuesday 26 January, Australia Day, only Campervan Village, Camperman, Jucy, Spaceships and Star RV showed vans, and the Britz and Mighty Sydney branches list Australia Day as a closure day. Auto-Sleepers appears in our Sydney operator list but returned no vans for these dates. Our Sydney search lets you change the dates or drop-off city.

How much does campervan hire for the Tamworth Country Music Festival cost?

Prices below are in Australian dollars per day from our live Sydney search on 19 October 2026, picking up Wednesday 13 January 2027 and returning Monday 25 January 2027. Most vehicles showed Available Now with instant confirmation, while some Camperman, Travellers Autobarn and Campervan Village vans showed on request. The results page also shows a total for the hire, for example $1,188.30 for the Campervan Village Mini Camper and $1,543.35 for the Jucy Crib Plus.

• Two sleepers without a toilet: about $82 to $233 a day (Campervan Village Aventus to Britz Maverick).
• Three to four sleepers without a toilet: about $74 to $238 a day (Campervan Village Mini Camper, Camperman Juliette 2-3, Jucy Crib Plus, Spaceships Beta 4 Berth, Travellers Autobarn Hi5, Britz Voyager and Warrior 4WD).
• Two to three sleepers with shower and toilet: about $181 to $276 a day (Mighty Duo, Apollo Euro Mini, Britz Trailblazer, Star RV Polaris 2, Maui Ultima Plus).
• Four sleepers with shower and toilet: about $161 to $303 a day (Camperman Maxie 4, Mighty Double Up, Apollo Euro Quest and Euro Camper, Maui Cascade).
• Six sleepers with shower and toilet: about $232 to $326 a day (Mighty Big Six, Apollo Euro Deluxe, Maui Sunset, Jucy Chill'd Big Kahuna, Star RV Polaris 6).

A Brisbane pickup for the same dates returned the same ten brands from about $66 a day, but Brisbane is about 570 km from Tamworth against 405 km from Sydney. These rates leave out insurance excess options, one-way fees, extras such as camping kits and power leads, and fuel. They also leave out your campsite: a Design RV Riverside Camping Grounds site is $380 for 8 to 24 January, $270 for 14 to 24 January or $100 for the final weekend, per vehicle and including GST. Prices change, so check the official camping page.

Tamworth festival camping in a campervan: Riverside, caravan parks and rules

The Tamworth Country Music Festival is not gated, so there is no single festival campground. Most campervan travellers stay at the council-run Design RV Riverside Camping Grounds, a caravan park, or one of the temporary festival sites run by local clubs and schools. All details below come from the festival's official camping page and the Riverside ticketing page, checked in October 2026.

Design RV Riverside Camping Grounds

• Where: next to the Peel River, a few minutes' walk from the Tamworth CBD. Caravans, RVs and motorhomes, camper trailers and tents are all welcome.
• 2027 fees, per vehicle, including GST: Countdown and Festival, Friday 8 to Sunday 24 January, $380. Festival, Thursday 14 to Sunday 24 January, $270. Final weekend, Friday 22 to Sunday 24 January, $100. Each fee covers that period or any part of it, and there is no daily rate.
• Booking: buy online through Entertainment Venues or at the gate, where only card or Eftpos is accepted. There are no refunds. Record a mobile number with your name, as emergency services may use it.
• Sites: all sites are unpowered and not allocated or numbered. Your ticket gets you in, and you set up in any free spot inside the camping areas.
• Gates: the campground opens at midday on Friday 8 January, then Carter Street entry is open 24 hours. Plain Street entry opens 6am to 6pm, and 6am to 9pm from 15 to 23 January.
• Facilities: permanent and temporary toilets and showers (shower access is included), taps around the grounds and canteens open daily. There are no barbecues and no security, so keep valuables with you.
• Rules: small, quiet portable generators are allowed if they do not disturb others. Pets are allowed on a leash. Fireworks, open or pit fires and inflatable pools are banned, and noise must be kept down overnight. Campers must follow any water restrictions in place.
• Flood zone: the grounds sit on a flood zone, and campers must follow any directions from the SES, police, fire services or organisers.
• Accessibility: a designated accessible camping area, with an accessible toilet and shower, is near area 8 off Hirst Drive. There is also an accessible toilet and shower near the Carter Street entry.
• Departure: all campers must leave by 12pm on Monday 25 January 2027.

Wallaroo Camping Hire also offers pre-pitched glamping and tents inside the Riverside grounds, with power and air conditioning for its packages, and these include access for one car.

Caravan parks and powered sites in Tamworth

For a powered site, the festival lists four caravan parks in town: Austin Tourist Park (581 Armidale Road), Paradise Tourist Park (575 Peel Street), Tamworth Holiday Park (Goonoo Goonoo Road) and Tamworth North Holiday Park (New England Highway, Nemingha). It also lists temporary festival sites, including:

• Camp Oxley: run by the Oxley High School P and C on two school ovals in North Tamworth, about 3 km from the Tamworth Post Office, with water and power to each site, showers in the school change rooms and a bus stop at the gate.
• North Companions Playing Fields: North Tamworth, 1.5 km on foot to the CBD along the levee path. Unpowered sites for a camper and two people are $40 a night plus $10 per extra person, and the $50 powered sites are listed as booked out.
• Tamworth Rugby Park: Marius Street, a 10-minute walk to town, with powered and unpowered sites from 13 to 25 January 2027. Pets are not permitted.
• Paceway (Old Tamworth Showground): about 3 km out, with powered and unpowered sites and online bookings.
• Further out: Kootingal Recreation Reserve (17 km, powered, on the bus route), Moonbi Recreation Reserve (21 km), Nemingha Recreation Reserve (7 km), Piallamore Recreation Reserve (15 minutes) and Dungowan Recreation Ground (20 minutes, powered and unpowered).

Free camping and freedom camping near Tamworth

The festival's long vehicle parking areas on Peel Street and Solander Drive are listed for parking caravans, motorhomes and RVs, not as campsites, and we found no free camping area in Tamworth city on the council or festival sites. The nearest council-listed freedom camping area is at Manilla, on the Namoi River by Dewhurst Street, which Visit NSW says suits motorhomes, caravans and big rigs, with water, bins and a dump point but no toilets, and a donation box for the local Men's Shed. Check stay limits with Tamworth Regional Council on 02 6767 5555 before you rely on it. Further out, the festival lists Nowendoc Recreation Reserve at $10 per vehicle per night (104 km away) and unpowered sites at Chaffey Dam with no bookings.

Dump points

Tamworth Regional Council lists free RV dump points at the Rotary Rest Area near 505 Armidale Road, East Tamworth, the Lions Club Rest Area near 477 Goonoo Goonoo Road, South Tamworth, and on Gunnedah Road in West Tamworth, plus Manilla, Barraba and Chaffey Dam. More on the official camping page.

How to get from Sydney to the Tamworth Country Music Festival

Tamworth is 405 km north-west of Sydney, 280 km from Newcastle and 570 km south of Brisbane, according to the festival. Allow about five and a half hours of driving from Sydney without stops. The usual route is:

• Head north on the M1 Pacific Motorway towards Newcastle.
• Take the Hunter Expressway west to join the New England Highway.
• Follow the New England Highway through Muswellbrook, Scone and Murrurundi into Tamworth, arriving on Goonoo Goonoo Road.

The festival asks travellers to use the Live Traffic and Hazards Near Me apps on the way. If you prefer not to drive the whole festival, daily trains run from Sydney, and QantasLink and Link Airways fly to Tamworth.

Where to pick up your campervan

• Britz and Mighty: 125 Nancy Ellis Leebold Drive, Bankstown Aerodrome. Both list 9am to 3:30pm every day, ask you to collect or return at least one hour before closing, and close on Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Australia Day (26 January).
• Other brands: check Apollo, Maui, Jucy, Spaceships, Campervan Village, Camperman, Star RV and Travellers Autobarn depot hours for 13 and 25 January when you book.

Parking and traffic in Tamworth

The festival names two main long vehicle parking areas for cars with caravans, motorhomes and RVs: Peel Street near the skate park, closest to Darling Street, and Solander Drive, off Gipps Street from the Goonoo Goonoo Road intersection, beside the Peel River. Streets in the CBD close to traffic during the festival, and in 2026 the closures began on Sunday 11 January, so expect the 2027 plan to be similar. Access permits for closed roads only cover rigid vehicles with two axles and under seven metres. Once you are set up, leave the van parked and ride the Festival Express bus, which costs $5 a day or $40 for an adult festival wristband with unlimited travel. Start from our Sydney campervan hire page and see the official travel page.

A 13 day Tamworth Country Music Festival campervan trip from Sydney

This plan matches our search dates, collecting on Wednesday 13 January 2027 and returning on Monday 25 January 2027, and uses the $270 Riverside Festival ticket that starts on Thursday 14 January. Book your campsite before you book the van.

Day 1 (Wednesday 13 January): Collect and head north

Pick up in Sydney in the morning, stock up on food and water, and drive north on the M1 and the Hunter Expressway. Break the trip with a night on the New England Highway, for example at Murrurundi Caravan Park, which the festival lists about an hour south of Tamworth and which welcomes big rigs.

Day 2 (Thursday 14 January): Arrive and set up

Drive the last hour into Tamworth and enter the Riverside campground through the Carter Street gate. Sites are first come, first served, so arrive early to choose your spot near the river.

Day 3 (Friday 15 January): Opening day

The festival opens across the CBD. Buy a Festival Express bus wristband, collect a free Toyota hat at Toyota Zone (10am to 4pm daily) and catch the free nightly concert in Toyota Park.

Days 4 to 8 (16 to 20 January): Pubs, buskers and side trips

Choose from thousands of free and ticketed shows in pubs, clubs and venues, walk the buskers on Peel Street and visit the Big Golden Guitar and the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. Take a quiet day out to Nundle or Chaffey Dam, both on the festival's camping list.

Days 9 to 10 (21 to 22 January): Final weekend crowds arrive

The final weekend camping rate starts on Friday 22 January, so expect the campgrounds and the CBD to fill up. Check the official guide for the Country Music Parade date and route.

Day 11 (Saturday 23 January): Toyota Golden Guitar Awards

The 55th Golden Guitar Awards, the heart of the festival, are on Saturday 23 January. Buy tickets early if you want to attend in person.

Day 12 (Sunday 24 January): Last day of the festival

Enjoy the final shows, then pack down your campsite in the evening and leave no rubbish behind.

Day 13 (Monday 25 January): Drive back and return the van

Riverside campers must leave by 12pm. Empty your tanks at a council dump point such as the South Tamworth Lions Club Rest Area on Goonoo Goonoo Road, leave by about 7am, and return the van in Sydney before the depot's last return time, which is 2:30pm at Britz and Mighty.

Tips for the Tamworth Country Music Festival in a campervan

• Book your campsite before the van: Riverside sites are pay once per vehicle with no daily rate, and powered sites at the club-run grounds book out, with North Companions' powered sites already listed as booked out.
• Do not return on Australia Day: Britz and Mighty close on 26 January, and a 26 January return cut our Sydney results from ten brands to five. Return on Monday 25 January instead.
• Bring your own power if you camp at Riverside: all sites are unpowered, so pick a van with a good house battery or solar, or bring a small, quiet generator, which the campground allows.
• Park once and take the bus: CBD streets close during the festival, closed-road permits do not cover rigid vehicles of seven metres or more, and the Festival Express wristband is $40 for unlimited adult travel.
• Plan for heat and storms: January is midsummer, and the Riverside grounds are in a flood zone, so pack shade, a hat and sunscreen, and follow any SES directions.
• Know where to dump: the council runs free dump points in East, South and West Tamworth, so you can empty your toilet cassette without leaving town.