The New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards in Gore is set to celebrate its 50th birthday this year, coming at a time when interest in the genre is at new heights.
Gore Country Music Club president Julie Mitchell said the competition had come a long way from the 33 entries when it first started.
She said they have had over 700 entries for each of the past few years and this time she is expecting even more.
The NZ Gold Guitars 50th Anniversary Concert, half the tickets for which are already sold, will feature returning winners from past years.
"We’ve got a lot of the oldies and the goodies coming back to celebrate 50 years," she said.
Mrs Mitchell also acknowledged the boom in the genre worldwide as a catalyst for a rapidly increasing appetite in the festival.
"Country music has obviously taken the world by storm," she said.
Convener of the NZ Gold Guitar Awards committee Phillip Geary agreed that gradually in the past 10 years, and particularly in the last three or four, country music has really skyrocketed to the competition’s benefit.
In particular, he has noticed a "big increase" in the intermediate section, which covers the 13-18 age range.
"There’s a lot of teenagers who are getting into country and we’ve had quite a growth over that," he said.
Mr Geary said the first person who stood out when looking back at past winners was Camille French (nee Te Nahu).
Mrs French won the award in 1998 and is now "well established" in Nashville, Mr Geary said, performing as part of The French Family Band.
Kylie Harris, who won in 1992, and also "does very well", Mr Geary said, in the country music world capital.
Mr Geary said the awards had taken its own steps to change its image over the years.
"Originally it was country and western and we deliberately keep the word western out of it now," he said.
"Western just goes back to the cowboy image, I think."
The change in image and increased popularity in the genre has been reflected in pop culture, with Beyonce’s country album "Cowboy Carter" winning Album of the Year at this year’s Grammy Awards.
Many country artists, such as Luke Combs, have developed a more modern look and sound.
Tussock Country Festival marketing manager Annabel Roy said
ticket sales were launched in December, eight months before the festival, to allow time for national and international guests and visitors to book flights and plan trips to Gore.
She said the festival will feature some "unique" concerts at the St James Theatre this year including the te reo-incorporating Harmonic Resonators, veterans the New Zealand Highwaymen and The Mitchell Family Band.
The family band features Mrs Mitchell’s husband Ron and her daughter Jenny, both Gold Guitar alumni, and twin daughters Maegan and Nicola.
"Every year the festival is growing quite rapidly, so we’re really excited for this year," Ms Roy said.
