Invercargill’s Angela Fairbrother was one of a sold-out crowd of 850 people who attended Gore’s first Top Paddock music festival on Saturday.
Although she had never been keen on country music, a friend persuaded her to don her cowboy hat for a night out.
She had warmed up to the genre, she said.
"It has to be good, I’m [still] wearing the hat."
"Country music is all about the heart. It gets in your heart and it gets in your bones."
She especially enjoyed Jaydin Shingleton’s performance.
Jody Direen, Jenny Mitchell, Cam Scott, Arun O'Connor and Hannah May were also in the line-up.
Top Paddock was the second event of Gore’s nine-day Tussock Country Music Festival, which will run until June 6.
Promotions contractor Annabelle Roy helped to organise the night.
"It proves Gore knows how to have a shindig," she said.
"The artists rocked Gore’s socks off."
"As organisers and crew, it exceeded our expectations.
Feeling the foundations of the building shake with over 800 party-goers dancing to Cam Scott was the highlight of the night, she said.
Musician Jody Direen founded Top Paddock, which was first held at Lake Hawea on New Year’s Eve 2016.
She had a gut feeling that moving the event to Gore was the right thing to do.
"It’s a natural progression. Gore has such a strong country music culture."
Top Paddock was a more modern take on the country genre and included country-rock and country-pop.
This was well received, she said.
"You really felt the energy in the room. Everyone was raring to go.
"There was... magic in the air."
