Country music fans have poured into Nashville for more than five decades to meet their favorite country singers and see them perform. What started in 1972 as a ploy to distract fans from a popular radio convention has morphed into an official four-day event called CMA Fest – that unofficially lasts almost one week.
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This year, CMA Fest is June 5-8 in downtown Nashville. Headliners include Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts with Carly Pearce and more.
In the first year, approximately 5,000 fans attended the venue site at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. Since then, the event has expanded to feature hundreds of acts on multiple stages, covering much of Nashville’s Lower Broadway footprint, which has also extended across the Cumberland River to Nissan Stadium. About 90,000 fans participate in what is known as the longest-running country music festival in the world.
Artists Play for CMA Fest for Free
Every artist participates for free, and the Country Music Association donates proceeds to music education. Many of the stages are free, but the festival’s most popular attractions, such as the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium, require tickets.
Tickets are still available at cmafest.com.
With a history spanning more than five decades, memories of the event are plentiful. Here are a few favorites.
Country Fans Reject Lenny Kravitz
Kravitz joined Jason Aldean for a collaboration on his hit “American Woman” in 2013, then played his own poorly received short set. While country music fans didn’t boo him off the stage, they didn’t accept him with open arms. Kravitz also didn’t alter his performance to cater to the crowd. After he finished a minutes-long, horn-heavy version of his “Let Love Rule,” he turned and walked off stage, flipping double birds at country fans after he turned his back.
Luke Bryan Leads Moment of Silence for Orlando Shooting Victims
About 24 hours after a 29-year-old man shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Luke Bryan closed CMA Fest on June 12, 2016, and honored the victims.
Approximately 55,000 people were in Nissan Stadium when Bryan asked for a moment of silence before he sang his grief ballad, “Drink a Beer.”
Miranda Lambert Leads Doggy Parade
While country music fans expect to be up close and personal with their favorite stars at CMA Fest, most of them probably didn’t expect to see Miranda Lambert leading a dog parade through Nashville in 2017. Lambert invited fans and their dogs to join her in the parade, which she dubbed the MuttNation March, after her rescue. More than 1,000 pet owners and their canines showed up to join. Afterward, MuttNation held an adoption event in Nashville’s Music City Center.
Taylor Swift’s 13-Hour Meet & Greet
In its early days, CMA Fest was called Fan Fair, and Fan Fair was all about getting autographs. Fans would travel to Nashville from all over the world to meet their favorite country stars. They’d bring little books and printed pictures from past years for the singer’s to sign. When CMA Fest moved from Nashville’s Fair Grounds to downtown Nashville, the practice started losing popularity among the singers. However, Taylor Swift kept the tradition alive in 2010 when she signed autographs for 13 hours on June 13. It’s like 13 is her favorite number, or something.
Garth Brooks Break-Free 23-Hour Autograph Session
Brooks‘ marathon signing took place in 1996, and it remains part of Fan Fair lore. The CMA was still holding the fan event at Nashville’s fairgrounds when Brooks found himself a spot he liked outside and started signing.
More than 20 years later, Brooks told Midland that he chose then to make the fan-forward stand because his record label was changing leadership. There were rumors that some of the most established artists may get pushed out, and he wanted to remind himself and everyone else why he climbs on stage every night – it’s for the fans.
“Our bosses are not the record labels. Our bosses are not country radio or the CMAs,” Brooks said. “As much as I love those people, our bosses are those people on the other side of radio. Those people that show up in those seats. I said, ‘Let’s go see what the bosses think.’”
Be sure to tune-in to #CMAfest presented by @SoFi on Thursday, June 26 at 8/7c on ABC to relive your favorite performances!
Photo by Stephen Lovekin/WireImage
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