ARMIDALE shivered through an icy weekend but Kath Caddy and Jane Dutton had the right idea, rugging up for the city’s first Winter Fest.
The city endured its coldest temperature for the month on Sunday, with the mercury falling to minus six degree degrees.
Friday night saw snow falling around Black Mountain and Guyra, with wind gusts in the city reaching 80 kilometres per hour – the strongest Armidale has seen all month.
On Monday night, snow dusted parts of the region again and forced the second closure of the New England Highway between Armidale and Glen Innes since Friday.
Traffic was blocked in both directions from 3am yesterday until about 11.30am.
But the cold snap couldn’t have come at a better time for the city, with the inaugural Winter Fest held over the weekend as a fundraiser for BackTrack.
Armidale Tourist Park business development manager Kate Mitchell said snowfall often brought a boost in visitors to the area.
“Last year when we had snow over the region we booked out of accommodation,” Ms Mitchell said.
“It sparked a little bit of interest in and around our town, it was a bit of a coincidence that we had snow [over the weekend].”
Ms Mitchell said artists who had hit the stage on Saturday were also looking forward to the event’s second act.
“The local artists we have in our town were just spectacular,” she said.
“All of them are keen to come back next year.
“Even the opera singers … and it was minus three degrees when they were up on stage.”
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast another cold one today, with a low of minus three degrees, and a high of just 14.
