Toyota has expanded its support for Tamworth’s renowned country music festival, from January 20-28, by sponsoring a series of public guitar workshops.

Featuring some of Australia’s most celebrated guitarists, he educational sessions will be run by Golden Guitar winner Michael Fix.

The workshops have been organised in conjunction with guitar-manufacturer Maton and will be held at Toyota Country Music Headquarters in Peel Street, Tamworth each afternoon of the festival at 2.30pm (except January 25^th and 28^th).

Toyota Country Music Headquarters will also stage an exhibition of vintage Maton guitars, and a series of celebrity cooking demonstrations by well-known country musicians.

The 2001 Tamworth Country Music Festival will include an estimated 2600 live performances at 120 venues, with over six hundred musicians from all over Australia expected to attend.

Highlights of the festival include the Australian country music industry’s most prestigious event, the Toyota CMAA Country Music Awards, and the Toyota Starmaker Quest, which is considered an important showcase for new country music talent.

In previous years the Quest has launched the careers of Keith Urban, Gina Jeffreys, James Blundell and Lee Kernaghan.

Another popular feature of the festival is likely to be MusicCountry/Toyota Fanfest - a series of concerts featuring established stars and surprise guests.

The Fanfest gives audiences a unique opportunity to meet the performers at the end of each show.