THE Tamworth Country Music Festival is more popular than ever, with many of the town's businesses reporting their busiest start in years.
According to the council, some traders and venues are reporting an up to 60 per cent increase in trade over the festival's opening weekend.
"A couple of venues reported the first Saturday was one of their best Saturdays ever," the festival's director Barry Harley told AAP in Tamworth.
The northern NSW town, which famously doubles its 50,000-strong population every year during the 10-day festival, has added a new camping ground and extended the existing one to deal with the influx of visitors.
"Quite frankly, we probably can't take any more people, we're sort of at a maximum with our accommodation," Harley said.
"We've got stories of people with 13 to a house and people sleeping on the floor, so who knows what the final number is."
The festival's appeal possibly lies in its all-encompassing nature.
Every venue, big or small, puts on shows and gigs while Peel Street is home to the buskers, many of whom go on to become country music stars.
"There is not another music festival that can boast 700 artists, 400 buskers and 2800 scheduled events," Harley said.
The culmination of the festival is Saturday night's Golden Guitar Awards, in front of 5000 people at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre.
AAP