Shannon Noll ready to hit Coonamble greyhound racing carnival

Coonamble's October long weekend carnival, featuring three days of racing, has become an industry institution with visitors coming from around NSW and up and down the eastern seaboard to compete, watch and be a part of the iconic event.

The carnival rivals the annual rodeo as the town's biggest yearly event, but this time, it will stand alone with the announcement earlier this year that Shannon Noll will perform on track on Friday night, free for all.

"It's exciting this time around because I'm bringing the full band, the whole show this time, not just an acoustic version, so it should be a big, loud event," he said.

"Growing up in the bush myself in Condo (Condobolin), I saw first-hand that events were few and far between. A lot of times, a lot of country people miss out because of the lack of opportunities.

"There's no big festivals or things like that around the place, so to be able to do what we are doing, adding to a race meeting, adds that little bit of extra reasoning for people to head along.

"And just putting the music aspect to the race meets as we're doing is a great opportunity for the community to get together and all hang out for a little bit and catch up in a social environment.

"I'm really stoked to be able to provide that."

This isn't Noll's first rodeo, as they say.

He has become a popular regular at major greyhound events.

In 2022, he performed at the Dubbo Country Classic Final, and later that year, was on track in Newcastle for The 715 Final at Ladbrokes Gardens.

"Dubbo was a really, really memorable afternoon, and I caught up with a heap of friends I haven't seen from Condo for a while, and hopefully Coonamble will be the same," he said.

"I thoroughly enjoyed Dubbo. It was a cracker of a day; the locals really came out and supported it, and there were lots of families there. It was a really social event, and people turned up for a fun afternoon.

"I'm so excited that the people are looking forward to the (Coonamble) gig, and so am I. Whenever I am doing a gig, everyone who comes along deserves the very best that I have got to offer, and I take that attitude into every gig I do.

"The public deserves the best show I can bring to the table, and with the full band in Coonamble, that's what I intend on giving them: a night to remember. It's going to be great."

It's hard to believe that in November, it will be 20 years since Noll rose to prominence when runner-up on Australian Idol.

Since then, he has had numerous hit songs and seven ARIA top 10 albums, including two multi-platinum number-one albums.

"It's been great to be back touring again since coming out the back of COVID and to have the opportunity to do a few gigs around the place," he said. "That's what I really enjoy.

"But it's amazing that next year will be 20 years since my first album. We have been putting a couple of singles out over the last six to eight months and another one early next year, and then a big tour announcement off the back of that as well. But first ... Coonamble."

This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.