The CMA Music Festival is a four-day

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

centered on

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, hosted each June by the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...

(CMA) in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Beginning in 1972 under the name Fan Fair, the event now draws over 400 artists and celebrities who hold autograph sessions and perform in concerts offered throughout the festival. Half of the proceeds from the festival each year (estimated at US$200,000 in 2001) are donated to charity, while the other half is earmarked by the CMA for "the advancement of country music".

History

Fan Fair (1972–2003)

WSM radio, coordinating with the

(CMA), created Fan Fair in 1972 so that fans would refrain from attending the annual

radio industry The "radio industry" is a generic term for any companies or public service providers who are involved with the broadcast of radio stations or ancillary services. Radio broadcasters can be broken into at least two different groups: Public service ...

-only convention meant more for

disk jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

s and other radio dignitaries that the CMA hosted in the fall. The inaugural Fan Fair was held from April 12–15, 1972, at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium. The inaugural four-day event was attended by 5,000 fans and featured 20 hours of live entertainment and 100 exhibit booths, including autograph booths. The following year, Fan Fair was moved to June in the hope of finding better weather conditions and attracting more visitors—attendance doubled to 10,000 fans. In the third year,

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, the first non-country musician in the lineup, was invited to perform, and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

and

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The ...

performed a duet for the last time before dissolving their partnership. By 1982, the festival was moved to the

Nashville Fairgrounds The Nashville Fairgrounds, also known as The Fairgrounds Nashville and the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, is an entertainment complex in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The site is located southeast of Downtown Nashville on the Nolensville Pik ...

, and the All American Country Games competition was added. This event, which raised money for the Tennessee

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

, was canceled in 1989 to add more shows. In 1991, singer

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

attended Fan Fair despite being under doctor's orders not to speak or sing, so that her injured vocal cords could heal. She used a computer to type messages for her fans to read as she held "conversations" with them.

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

decided at the last minute to attend the 25th anniversary of the festival in 1996. He was swarmed with fans, and stayed in his booth signing autographs for 23 hours and 10 minutes without a single break. Fan Fair underwent major changes in 2001. For the first time, the event was held over a long weekend (Thursday, June 14 to Sunday, June 17) instead of during the work week. At the same time, the festival moved from its long-time home at the fairgrounds to several sites clustered in downtown Nashville, including

Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, it is primarily used for football and is the home field of the Tennessee Titans of the Nati ...

, the Nashville Convention Center,

Bridgestone Arena Bridgestone Arena (originally Nashville Arena, and formerly Gaylord Entertainment Center and Sommet Center) is a multi-purpose venue in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1996, it is the home of the Nashville Predators o ...

, and Riverfront Park. The fairgrounds itself was converted to a temporary campground for attendees. Until 2001, the evening concerts were organized by

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

s, with each label choosing which of its artists would be able to perform, and the length of the appearance. Beginning with Fan Fair 2001, these main concerts were grouped instead by record distribution group. This allowed for four main concerts, for

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, WEA/EMI, UNI, and BMG. The artists are not paid to attend the festival or for their performances during it.

CMA Music Festival (since 2004)

In 2004, the CMA renamed the event to the CMA Music Festival in order to change negative perceptions, embrace the CMA brand, and expand its appeal. Also in 2004, the ABC network televised the event as a two-hour special known as ''CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock''. The first special, which aired on July 14, 2004, ranked number 16 in viewers, with an estimated 9 million people tuning in. The annual special, re-edited from the three days of events, continues to air on ABC as of the present. A new attendance record was set in 2007 with 191,154 fans attending. Those in attendance participated in more than 100 hours of concerts, 30 hours of organized autograph signings, family activities, celebrity sports competitions, interactive exhibits, giveaways, games and other activities. Over 400 celebrities made appearances at the 2007 CMA Music Festival. The festival went on hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, but returned in 2022.

Attendance

Through 2000, the CMA Music Festival was considered a sell-out if 25,000 people attended. Attendees span all ages, from infants to the elderly and come from 41 different countries, including Canada, France, Australia, Germany, The United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Russia. After moving to its new, larger and air-conditioned home in 2001, attendance numbers soared, with the 2002 festival drawing 126,000 fans. Attendance slipped slightly the following year, partially because many of the more-renowned country music stars declined to appear at the festival. However, in 2003, attendance was down only 1.7% over the year before, compared to a 25% decline in overall U.S. tourist travel for the same period. The attendance slippage was not permanent; in 2007, a record-breaking crowd of 191,000 people attended the festival. In 2010 and 2011, a record 65,000 people a day were estimated to have attended ticketed and free events. In 2011, total combined attendance for the four-day event was estimated to have exceeded 250,000 people at ticketed events and in free areas. Visitors came from 41 different nations, and all 50 states. In 2015 tickets sold out seven months in advance and had a record-setting attendance of 87,680 fans attending the event besting 2014 by 9.6%.

References

External links