Now it’s a two-day festival, celebrating all things country music and a talent quest that boasts between 150 and 200 entries almost every year.

The 2PK Parkes Country Music Festival is celebrating its 50th consecutive year of a country music event in town.

While the event has had numerous name changes, it came about thanks to two teenage girls – one from Tasmania and the other Victoria – Irene Hutchison and Betty Guierie and 2PK radio country music show host Don McGuire.

The girls started the Don McGuire fan club in the mid sixties for those who followed Don’s Thursday night show called Country Style.

In 1967 the first 2PK Parkes Country Music Jamboree was held.

“Smiths Chips was a sponsor and they used to win a packet of chips,” Parkes and District Country Music Association life member Dale Cowell said.

Dale has been involved with the festival for 28 years – running as president in 1992 – and knows the history well.

Dale has some of the original recordings of the jamborees on LP vinyls and cassettes in the 1970s.

“I think they recorded every year until about 1979,” he said.

Before there was the official Parkes Country Music Club – Don, Irene and Betty, along with Bob Dumesny, Ronny Jeeves and Peter McQuie, helped organise the festival.

The club was formed in 1987, who then took over the festival, with the efforts of Bob and Marilyn Dumesny, Tommy Forrester, Ron Jeeves and many others who travelled to town to help.

In the 90s the club was renamed the Parkes and District Country Music Association and over the years, the festival went from a jamboree to 2PK Parkes Country Music Spectacular and then the 2PK Parkes Country Music Festival.

“When Bob took over he had all these great ideas and it became the Parkes Country Music Spectacular,” Dale said.

“The festival was run out of the two clubs then, the Parkes Leagues Club and the Parkes Services Club, and many hundreds turned out for it from all over.

“Back in those days it was one of the only festivals of that time.

“[People] need to realise there’s a country music event every weekend now, if you go looking for one.

“It’s (the festival) been great because it was formed on giving everybody a go.”

Then, Dale said, the talent quest came along and the festival grew bigger and bigger.

“We had 240 entries at one stage and we had to run it over the two days,” he said.

This year’s entries are more than 200.

Association vice president and talent quest organiser Lindy Charlton said their initial plan this year was to restrict entries to 150.

“It used to be over two days but we put it back to one day because we couldn’t handle it and the entries this year have flooded in,” she said.

The talent quest has earned the reputation for being a prestigious competition and Dale attributes that to how it’s run.

“It’s always been run so well,” he said.

“Performers have gone through to become professional artists like Golden Guitar winner Travis Collins.

“Of course he came through our talent quest and we can’t go passed our Dianna Corcoran...she came through the club as a junior.

“Then there’s the Byrnes Sisters (Debra and Letitia) from Parkes, they went through the talent quest and many other talent quests.”

When Bob moved on and the popularity of country music began to dwindle, the event became the 2PK Parkes Country Music Festival over the last 10 years.

“It was more a festival, it just made more sense to name it that,” he said.

Dale said the success of the event has come down to the popularity of the talent quest, its running and awards, and how it’s always given anyone the opportunity to have a go.

“It’s always been that way,” he said.

There have been too many good years for Dale to name a particular highlight for him.

The 50th anniversary will see the return of Irene and Betty, as well as Bob and Marilyn Dumesny present.

Major winners over the years will also be attending, including Wayne Horsburgh, Parkes man Stephen Cheney – who used to jam with Tommy Emmanuel, Michelle Little from Dubbo and Karen Pierce from Orange.

Unfortunately Don McGuire is unable to attend.

This year’s festival will begin on Friday with street busking and a 50^th anniversary country concert that night in the Starlight Lounge at the Parkes Services Club.

The Central West Country Music Awards Talent Quest will begin at 9am on Saturday at the Parkes Services Club, with the gala presentation and concert at 7pm.

A 50^th anniversary reunion will take place on Sunday at 10.30am.

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