Now the promoters of the festival have cancelled the event, leaving ticket holders out of pocket, the Walcha News is unable to confirm just how much it cost the government to achieve that.

At launch time, Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said The Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles would attract motorcycle owners and enthusiasts from across the country and help to put the town of Walcha on the map.

"This is great news for Walcha that such an exciting event has been secured for the New England region, thanks to the hard work of local volunteers with significant financial support of the NSW Government," he said.

On the same website the then Minister for Tourism and Major Events , the Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall, said the announcement confirmed NSW's place as Australia's favourite State for hosting exciting new events.

"NSW is unquestionably Australia's events capital and to have this major motorcycle event hosted in New England for the very first time is a major coup," Mr Marshall said.

Last week the company behind the Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles, Inside Line Events, went into voluntary liquidation and what is not clear now is just how much that 'significant investment' was and is there any chance of getting those taxpayers dollars back?

The Walcha News contacted both Kevin Anderson and Adam Marshall on Tuesday last week once the collapse of Inside Line Events was announced.

Mr Marshall stated his surprise at the news and advised that as he was no longer the Tourism & Major Events Minister, he had no oversight of the funding or the event. He suggested Mr Anderson, or the new Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres, could help.

Mr Anderson said he was disappointed for Walcha residents that the event would not go ahead as planned.

"The event looked like being a real shot in the arm for the community during a really tough time, and I will continue to work with Walcha Council to pursue other options for the town," he said.

Destination NSW advised they would respond to the question put to Mr Ayres as soon as possible. After one week, a couple of reminder emails and a follow-up phone call from the Walcha News their reply to the question: how much was given to the promoters and what are the chances of getting it back?', was received.

Via email, a spokesperson for Destination NSW said: " Walcha is such a great destination for visitors, so it's very disappointing to learn that the event organiser has cancelled the event".

"There is so much to see and do in the area including heritage walks, farmers markets, picnics at Apsley Falls or visits to the Walcha Gallery of Art. Visitors planning a trip to Walcha and northern country NSW can draw lots of inspiration from www.visitnsw.com," the spokesperson said.

"We look forward to receiving proposals to stage other events in the future to enhance and showcase all the region has to offer."

The Walcha News then responded to this with an email simply asking again: How much money was given to the promoters of the Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles?

The next day Destination NSW replied with : "Event investment details are commercial in confidence".

The Walcha News has spoken to a number of people involved with the development of the Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles and believes the state government funding could have been as much as $500,000 - though the exact amount and how much of this investment was cash and how much was 'in-kind' is unknown.