Held over the weekend of February 11 to 14, the 2016 event marked the festival's 20th year.

The 2016 ABMF was an all Australian event, with 27 acts presenting 68 shows in 9 performance spaces.

The council's business manager of marketing, events and culture Sarah Ruberto submitted a report to council on Tuesday night.

She said there was a noticeable increase in attendance across all venues on Friday and Saturday.

"As has been the case in recent years, it is difficult to measure the attendance of the ABMF as it is a free event and there are also no mechanisms in place to identify local attendees versus out of region attendees," Mrs Ruberto wrote.

"Additionally, numbers through the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) over the ABMF weekend do not provide an accurate representation of attendance as the VIC is no longer the ticketing agent or sole location to purchase performer CDs."

Thursday night attendance was low, as in recent years, however Mr Bell said the Mulwaree High School talent development program and Goulburn Club showcase was a huge success.

"Highly regarded guitarist and singer John McNamara conducted a workshop with the students on Thursday at Mulwaree High School and then those students showcased at the Goulburn Club Thursday evening," he said.

While no data was available to tally accommodation occupancy, a check done by Marketing and Events staff on the Friday indicated Goulburn was heavily booked.

"The NSW Men's Hockey Masters was also held on the same weekend, adding significantly to accommodation occupancy," Mrs Ruberto said.

Restaurants and cafes were busy, with one operator indicating that it was their biggest weekend trade since opening.

"There are few similar events that can boast such longevity," Mr Bell said.

"The visible presence of large numbers of visitors in the city all across the weekend can only indicate a financial windfall for the community.

"Sponsorship was non-existent. We did however apply for and receive a grant from music licensing organisation APRA-AMCOS. We have applied for similar funding for 2017.

"We did not apply for funding from Tourism NSW as we were advised in 2015 that we were ineligible due to funding in previous years.

"The initiatives we introduced in 2010 are paying dividends with an increase in both crowd numbers and media recognition."

The dates for next year's festival are February 9-12.