FROM honky-tonk tunes to simple ballads, people came from far and wide to enjoy a range of artists and songs at the Mount Gambier Country Music Festival over the weekend.
Held at Casadio Park, hundreds of people enjoyed the country sounds on Saturday night before many of the same faces returned for a packed day of artists on Sunday.
Festival coordinator Trevor Wynniat said the weekend was a great success and gave the chance for people with an interest in country music to come together.
“Often with these country music shows, you have once-a-year friends that come from somewhere and the only time you catch up with them is at a certain show, which is always great,” Mr Wynniat said.
“Our numbers on Saturday night were around regular and Sunday was pretty good too.”
The event featured a number of popular artists, including recent inductee into the Country Music Hands of Fame Paul Costa and local identity Kevin Sporer.
“Kevin was recently recognised this year for his 57 years service in the country music business,” Mr Wynniat said.
“We also have smaller artists who have incredible raw talent and they have all been very well received.”
Mr Wyniatt said while the event was not for everyone, he found the people who did attend were often like-minded in their interests.
“It is funny, I have a keen interest in lawn bowls and country music and I found there were a lot of people in the festival who also like bowls,” Mr Wynniat said.
The success of this year’s event in attracting the loyal supporters of country music bodes well for the future of the festival.
“The people on the committee work pretty hard and we had everything paid for before we started,” Mr Wynniat said.
“As long as we can get a great venue like Casadio Park again and people continue to come along, then we are quite happy to continue organising this sort of event.”
