Day long weekend. These events included Bluegrass Championships, Hands of Fame inductions, the Roll of Renown, rodeo events, Coca-Cola Concerts, Toyota Star Maker Quest, Tamworth Songwriters' Association Awards, busking in Peel Street, the Cavalcade and industry seminars among other events. These events were promoted to highlight Australian Country Music and to draw attention to the climax of the 10 days, the Golden Guitar Awards. Radio 2TM ran the awards until 1993 when they were passed on to the newly formed national industry organisation, the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA). The staging of the Golden Guitar Awards moved from Sunday to the Saturday night in the last weekend of the festival in late January as the Australia Day public holiday was moved to float with the 26 January date. Impact of COVID-19 As late as 15 June 2020, the 2021 Festival was set to go ahead. On 8 September 2020 Tamworth Regional Councillors voted to suspend all Tamworth Regional Council run events at the 2021 Toyota Country Music Festival, effectively cancelling the 49th Tamworth Festival. It is the first time in its history the annual event has been cancelled. The annual Golden Guitar Awards were planned to proceed via online streaming. In announcing the decision Festival Manager Barry Harley said "Unfortunately, like so many others in our situation, we have had to surrender to the challenges COVID has placed on us and make the difficult decision to suspend TCMF2021." Tamworth Region Mayor Col Murray also stated that in making the decision council had "the health and safety of our community, our fans, the artists, volunteers, local businesses, staff, and the wider country music industry front of mind." As of 9 September 2020, organisers were confident the 2022 event would proceed as usual, enabling the 50th anniversary of the event to be celebrated. However, on 7 January 2022, the NSW government announced the reintrodction of some COVID control "safety measures". As a result, the festival was postponed to April 2022. Music Styles Since the festival's original commencement the following music genres have been performed: classic country, bluegrass, country rock, folk, urban country, alternative country, rockabilly, Western swing, country rock'n'roll, yodelling, rock, blues and World music. The festival has diversified in styles of country as the genre country music itself has broadened, additionally other styles of music are played at the festival. Festival awards Golden Guitar Awards The CMAA's awards night ceremony