As Nashville celebrates Country Music Festival 2018, fans can catch their favorite artists performing across town. Nissan Stadium provides nightly concerts while some of the greatest discoveries can be made at smaller venues.
Lainey Wilson of Holler will perform at Chevy Riverfront Stage Thursday morning alongside Boy Named Banjo, LANCO, and Mitchell Tenpenny.
Stages
Fans will have the unique opportunity to experience all four days of the festival from multiple stages throughout downtown Nashville for the first time ever. These outdoor stages will showcase Country Music’s rising stars on Good Molecules Reverb Stage at Bridgestone Plaza and Hard Rock Stage; both stages will be open Thursday-Sunday.
At CMA Fest Experience, guests will also have access to music by Country Music’s top performers at two stages: Chevy Riverfront Stage and Acme Feed & Seed Stage. Both stages will offer activities and performances by some of Country Music’s biggest stars; Acme Feed & Seed Stage will host rooftop DJs as well as drink specials! Fans who purchase a four-night stadium pass may also access Fan Fair X area, where indoor stages offer intimate acoustic performances as well as interviews from industry pros.
CMA Fest’s Acoustic Spotlight Stage will feature artists that won’t be performing at Nissan Stadium’s main stages, such as AJ Kross, Christiana Alaire, Elle Bryant Tyler Booth Pryor Baird Keller Cox Christiana Clark Jeremy Davis Hayley Erbert Carly Pearce Shelby Lynne MaRynn Taylor and more. Fans can also attend Lauren Alaina 2023 Fan Club Party held at Brooklyn Bowl with performances, Q&A session meet-and-greet sessions plus meet-and-greet opportunities plus surprise souvenir.
CMA Fest will feature hundreds of Country Music artists performing across various downtown stages for free as part of supporting the CMA Foundation’s mission of improving music education programs. Attendees will have an opportunity to purchase tickets for Nissan Stadium shows as well as exclusive artist experiences.
CMA Fest can be dangerously addictive: once you come, you won’t want to leave! Combining country music with vibrant city cultures including visual arts and theatre performances; century-old red brick buildings on Lower Broad Street; friendly residents – these all combine into making CMA Fest a truly remarkable event.
Fan Fair X
At a time when social media has empowered fans to become their own paparazzi, the country music community isn’t shy about showing some love and attention for its followers. CMA Fest 2023 features fan-oriented events such as pop-up performances at Nashville venues to fan club-only parties; plus there’s always the CMA Close Up Stage, Chevy Riverfront stage, or even the HGTV House where stars may even meet you personally!
Nissan Stadium may host nightly concerts from country music’s hottest acts like Dan + Shay, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard and Carly Pearce; but there are other venues where country fans can witness these performances such as Chevy Riverfront Stage on Cumberland Riverbank which often reaches capacity on Saturday afternoon. Other popular stages at event are Spotlight Stage and Firestone Country Roads Stage.
CMA Fest 2023 features Fan Fair X, an exclusive series of meet-and-greets with country music’s rising artists and established legends. Sessions run hour long on first come, first serve basis; ticket buyers can access information by visiting the official website; entry into Fan Fair X is included with all four-day stadium passes.
CMA Fest Acoustic Lounge provides an intimate concert experience, featuring up-and-coming artists as well as some of the festival’s headliners performing acoustic sets. A great way to avoid Music Row summer heat while seeing some of your favorite performers! For an added treat, visit Coca-Cola Music Lounge where fans of country music can meet other likeminded folks while sipping on refreshing beverages while watching shows!
Spotlight Stage
At Country Music Festival Nashville 2023, the Spotlight Stage presents some of the most promising up-and-coming artists in country music. Unlike its bigger stages at Nissan Stadium, this one is free to attend. Over the course of the festival, this stage will showcase artists across genres of country music – past performers have included Ashley Cooke, Dalton Dover, Megan Moroney, Ian Munsick RVSHVD and Hailey Whitters among many more!
CMA Fest marks its 50th year this year! This four-day country music event attracts top names in country music as well as thousands of fans to Downtown Nashville for concerts at six official venues and popup locations, with nightly shows at Nissan Stadium drawing capacity crowds throughout its four days of events.
CMA Festival Pass holders can enjoy all four nights of concerts at Nissan Stadium with premium seats provided through this ticket bundle. Plus, access is provided to Fan Fair X at Music City Center with its unique VIP experiences like artist interviews, Q&As, special acoustic performances and interactive activities!
Country Music Association and Nashville musicians will join forces to host exclusive concerts for festival pass holders at Music City Center’s CMA Close Up Stage this Thursday through Sunday. Brothers Osborne will perform on Thursday; Dierks Bentley on Friday; and Reba McEntire on Sunday on The CMA Close Up Stage. In addition, their Countdown to CMA Fest Tour will take place there as well.
This marks the second time the festival has collaborated with popular Music City venues to host live performances, having worked with FGL House and 6th & Peabody previously to showcase emerging talent.
Chevy Riverfront Stage
Last year, over 80,000 fans from all 50 states and a record-setting 39 countries came to downtown Nashville to celebrate country music for a week at CMA Fest 2018. With hundreds of artists performing across various stages, there was something for everyone at this year’s CMA Fest – from headliners such as Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert to rising stars including HARDY Brothers Osborne Cody Johnson Lainey Wilson at this year’s fest, making its roster one of its most diverse lineups yet!
Fan Fair X and Music City Center present two stages for music performances this year – an acoustic Spotlight Stage inside Fan Fair X and a Chevy Riverfront Stage outside Music City Center – respectively. Christiana Alaire, Pryor Baird, Jillian Cardarelli Danielle Bradbery Tyler Braden Tenille Arts Chayce Beckham Ashley Cooke Jackson Dean Morgan Evans Corey Kent Madeline Edmondson Priscilla Block Maddie Tae Jordan Langston Chase Matthews Royce Lovettt Caylee Hammack are just a few names you won’t hear this festival year!
Outside of the main stages, various artists and brands will host pop-up shows at venues throughout downtown. Spotify House, hosted by their Hot Country playlist on music streaming service Spotify, will showcase a daily 3:30pm artist performance at Ole Red throughout the weekend. Other events include Bussin’ With The Boys (live taping of popular podcast for local comedian Dusty Slay) as well as CMA Close Up Songwriters Series hosted by in-demand artist-writer Ernest.
Get your tickets to this year’s Country Music Festival now! Ticket bundles offer nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium as well as four days of access to Fan Fair X – this is your opportunity to experience one of the longest-running country music festivals ever held! Don’t miss it – now’s your chance!
Spotify House
While fans soaked up new music at daytime stages in downtown Nashville, nightly performances at Nissan Stadium and other outdoor venues also provided plenty of musical pleasure for them to enjoy. But at Spotify House was truly where country music fan celebration was felt most vividly: Blake Shelton’s Ole Red bar had been transformed into an immersive four-day experience for his Ole Red bar event.
This year, Spotify House featured an eclectic array of up-and-coming talent. While big stars such as Sam Hunt, Dierks Bentley and Hailey Whitters performed nightly for 90000+ fans at Nissan Stadium, Spotify House allowed for emerging artists like Ashley Cooke, Dylan Schneider, Lily Rose Mitchell Tenpenny Restless Road Dalton Dover Jon Pardi 49 Winchester to perform for smaller audiences.
Tiera Kennedy made headlines at Spotify House this year with her R&B-influenced country artistry and heartrending love story on “Found It in You.” Other performers at Spotify House this year included British country trio Essex County with their foot-stomping brand of country music in Music City; Canadian singer/songwriter Brett Kissel; and Irish country singer Queeva.
At Spotify House, visitors enjoyed intimate live performances as well as an array of activities and partnerships designed to make CMA Fest memorable. DJ Chromeo’s immersive fitness experience proved popular; Squarespace hosted workshops led by leading country creatives and entrepreneurs; while Spotify Mic Check interviewed numerous rising country artists about their CMA Fest experiences.
As thousands of fans returned from a long weekend of music-making at Spotify House, many likely listened to playlists featuring artists they saw there and would soon witness perform live at Nissan Stadium.