<\/b>A police operation gets underway today to ensure Tamworth\u2019s annual country music festival is a safe, fun and family-friendly event.<\/p>\n
Operation Ashgrove will be in place for the duration of the Country Music Festival, Tamworth, which starts today (Friday 15 January 2016) and runs until Sunday 24 January 2016.<\/p>\n
Now in its 44th<\/sup> year, this is the largest music festival in the Southern Hemisphere, with a program featuring 700 performers, 2800 shows and 120 venues.<\/p>\n Dozens of additional police have been deployed to work in the northern-NSW city during the festival.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a hugely popular event, and we are expecting big crowds again this year,\u201d Operation Ashgrove Commander, Superintendent Fred Trench, said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe atmosphere in Tamworth throughout festival is high-spirited, and while the vast majority of people are well-behaved, police will act swiftly if you choose to do the wrong thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In particular, police will be targeting alcohol-related criminal and anti-social behaviour.<\/p>\n \u201cWe encourage people to have a great time while they\u2019re in Tamworth; we just ask that you look out for each other and know your limits in terms of alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n \u201cPolice will not tolerate alcohol-fuelled violence, and will be enforcing alcohol-free zones in the CBD.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll also have additional Traffic and Highway Patrol officers rostered on to conduct random alcohol and drug testing, so if you make a plan to drink, plan not to drive,\u201d Supt Trench said.<\/p>\n Local Liquor Accord agreements will also remain in place for the duration of the festival \u2013 including a 12.30am lockout for all licensed venues; a ban on spirits shots; and no energy-drink mixers or high-alcohol pre-mixed drinks can be purchased after 10pm.<\/p>\n More than 50,000 people are expected to descend upon Tamworth for the festival, with many of them camping at sites around the city.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunity safety is our number-one priority, and we urge festival-goers to take care of themselves and their belongings while visiting Tamworth for the festival,\u201d Supt Trench said.<\/p>\n Police offer the following safety and security tips for campers:<\/p>\n \u2022 Plan your trip in advance and if possible, make a booking; For comprehensive event details, visit the official festival website: www.tcmf.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n Special-event traffic information can be found at: www.livetraffic.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A police operation gets underway today to ensure Tamworth\u2019s annual country music festival is a safe, fun and family-friendly event. Operation Ashgrove will be in place for the duration of the Country Music Festival, Tamworth, which starts today (Friday 15 January 2016) and runs until Sunday 24 January 2016. Now in its 44th year, this … Continue reading “Police operation tunes up for Tamworth's country-music festival”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radio16","category-tcrn","category-zfm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3313\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.onradio.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Get to know your surrounding campers;
\n\u2022 In large crowds, be mindful of your own safety and security as well as that of people around you;
\n\u2022 Leave valuables at home \u2013 if you must take valuables with you, ensure they are secured and kept out of sight;
\n\u2022 Lock your caravan or campervan when unattended;
\n\u2022 Where possible, use a lock to secure your tent;
\n\u2022 Where possible, use a portable alarm in your tent or camper;
\n\u2022 Plan for changes in weather conditions;
\n\u2022 Ensure valuables are not left in unattended vehicles;
\n\u2022 Report any suspicious behaviour to police.<\/p>\n