The All Australian Jamboree was dreamed up in 1991 on the drive home from a Festival where very little Australian composed country music was sung. The first festival was held at the JK Dixon Memorial Rodeo Grounds(now known as the Dalrymple Equestrian Centre) in 1992. We were so excited about having Evelyn Bury as our main artist and supported by Noel Dobel. Evelyn Bury, at that time was a Gold Guitar winning artist who had been named in the top 10 Female Country Artists of the year for many years. Noel Dobel sang like Slim Whitman. It rained on that Saturday cabaret night and they stayed on to entertain the crowd on Sunday night.
The All Australian Jamboree was moved to the RSL for a few years and the Charters Towers Racecourse. Finally a decision was made to move it to a week before the Charters Towers Country Music Festival and hold it at the Barn at Charters Towers Showgrounds in 1998 and it has been there ever since.
We set out then to fill the intervening week with Tamworth like activities. This ten day period was called “Towers Bonza Bash” in the beginning but has had a name change since to “Ten Days in the Towers”.
In 2001, for our 10th All Australian Jamboree, we asked Evelyn Bury to return to help us celebrate. Sadly, Noel Dobel had lost his battle with cancer and couldn’t be with us. Evelyn did a great job of entertaining and was enjoyed by everyone.
In 2005, the Junior Sections all became the BHP Billiton Cannington Mine Junior Competition when they became a major sponsor and they have remained a big part of our festival.
For our 19th Annual Festival we were lucky to find another major sponsor, Charters Towers Red Rooster, and with their help, the Festival will continue to thrive and grow. Gold City Country Music Club Members are adamant that it will continue to do so.
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