June is coming and that means it’s time to get on your cowboy boots and enjoy the CMA Festival. This year from June 5 – 8, Nashville will turn into a party town.
To begin with, I love Nashville. It’s a great town with even better people. So what is there not to love about CMA Fest, y’all!!! Not only are all the fans blessed with nightly performances at LP Field with all the greatest country stars, but every day of the Fest there are musical performers at the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage, Hard Rock Stage and another few nestled in the downtown area. Music, music, music, is everywhere.
I attended my first CMA Fest last year and I can’t wait to go again this year. I saw Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Blake Shelton, Glorianna, Love & Theft, Kip Moore, Sheryl Crow, etc.
The CMA Fest is a very well organized music festival with a wide variety of activities for everyone.
Places to sit in the shade? Check. Indoor activities? Check. Clean restrooms with short lines? Check. Free concerts? Check. Free stuff? Check. Awesome. They also have family friendly activities like a play zone and a celebrity baseball game.
The energy at the festival is infectious and anyone who hates it is just a grump. You can purchase four-day passes, or buy daily tickets. The main nightly concerts (the big names) are at LP Field, and the daily shows are on various stages in Riverfront Park. There are daily autograph sessions at the Music City Center were all the celebs show up (not just country singers – actors have been known to attend).
It is usually sweltering during this week and you’re outside on your feet forever, so here is my CMA Fest survival guide.
•You will walk a lot. If you have a pair of cowboy boots that are really comfortable, you should be fine wearing them with shorts. But please remember, you will be walking on asphalt most of the time. I would stick to good walking shoes and save the boots for the concerts at night.
•Get your information as soon as possible in the spring and plan what you really want to see/hear. The free concerts are awesome and they don’t cost a cent.
•Understand that the night time concerts go to midnight or later (Thursday night didn’t end until almost 1 a.m.).
•Don’t buy any T-shirts. At the end of the day, your goodie bag will be full of free T-shirts, key chains, snacks, stickers, posters, guitar picks, etc. I walked away with four FREE shirts.
•Wear tons of sun block and bring lots of water.
•Park far away if you want to avoid the steep parking charges. By doing so, I saved at least $45.
This year’s line-up at the Riverfront stage includes:
Craig Campbell
David Nail
Cassadee Pope
Billy Ray Cyrus
Danielle Bradbery
Love & Theft, and many more.
LP Field line-up includes:
Luke Bryan
Miranda Lambert
Keith Urban
Sara Evans
Lady Antebellum
Hunter Hayes, and many more.
Kristin McGill
February 11, 2015Hi there! Thanks for blogging about CMA Fest! I’ve never been but my husband and I are going for the first time this summer, cannot wait! We booked a package through a booking agency since we waited so long to plan this trip. We are staying right downtown and are arriving Thursday afternoon. I would love to hear any other tips you have for first timers.
We aren’t flying out until the next Thursday. After the festival, we plan to rent a car for 2 days to check out TN. We don’t want to be in the car all day but 3 to 6 hours is fine. Do you have any suggestions on where we should go? I would love to hear from a local!
Thanks, Kristin
sabines
February 15, 2015Hi Kristin! So glad you like my CMA Fest post. CMA Fest is amazing… you’ll love it! Nashville is pretty awesome too. I have only lived here for 2.5 years and the only other place I have visited outside of Nashville is Knoxville. My daughter goes to college there. Franklin is only 20 minutes from downtown Nashville and is really pretty. Lots of farms, pastures, horses, etc. Radner Lake (just 15 minutes south of Nashville) is also beautiful. I’ve heard Chattanooga has some amazing waterfalls (1.5 hours from Nashville). Hope this helps a little. Have fun!
Kristin McGill
February 23, 2015Thanks for the info! I have heard amazing things about the festival and I cannot wait!