The committee did its best to to maintain the program as power was restored to parts of town late afternoon. The New England Highway, however, remained closed south of town as emergency services battled the huge fire which skirted the southern edge of town.

This meant that some performers and dignitaries coming from the south couldn't attend, and the festival's Tenterfield Eat Street wrapped up early.

Those that gathered in Bruxner Park, however, may not have been able to help directly with the fires but were determined to show their support for a community in drought, and now ravaged again by bushfire.