In 1972, country music fans started showing up to an annual DJ convention in Nashiville, TN.  As an alternative to the convention, Country Music leaders offered Fan Fair and 5,000 people came to the first occurrence held at the Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium.  As the event grew, it was moved twice, first to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds and then to Downtown Nashville in 2001 where it is held today.  As it grew, the Country Music Association, (CMA), recognized that the small, fan based event had grown into a world-class music festival and was renamed the CMA Music Festival in 2004.

Fan Fair has come to signify the relationship between fans and the country music artists they admire.  The Country Music Festival honors this humble theme with an exhibit hall in the Nashville Convention Center where fans can get autographs and photos with their favorite artists.

Today the CMA Music Festival is a four-day carnival of Country music that includes artist/fan interaction, more than 70 concerts, family activities, and more.  Hundreds of artists and celebrities appear each year including favorites like Leann Rimes, Garth Brooks, George Strait, and Willie Nelson.  There are carnival rides and games, kids activities, and sticky, yummy fair food.  The Festival also offers the Sports Zone, a place where celebrities meet up for competitive sporting events for fun and charity.

The 2006 line-up of entertainers and artists reads like a who’s who of Country Music:

Trace Adkins          Trent Tomlinson       Blue County
Miranda Lambert    Jimmy Fortune         Ashley Monroe
Rhett Akins           Trick Pony                Bomshel
Blaine Larsen        The Fox Brothers      Montgomery Gentry
Jason Aldean        Tanya Tucker           Catherine Britt
Little Big Town      Todd Fritsch              Megan Mullins
Jessi Alexander    Josh Turner              Lane Brody
Little Texas         The Grascals             David Lee Murphy
Gary Allan           Lane Turner              Brooks & Dunn
Brice Long           Pat Green                 Gary Nichols
Keith Anderson    Carrie Underwood      Shannon Brown
Los Lonely Boys   Andy Griggs              Joe Nichols
Jessica Andrews   Jimmy Wayne           T. Graham Brown
The Lost Trailers  Susan Haynes          The Oak Ridge Boys
Rodney Atkins     Bryan White             Sonny Burgess
Rockie Lynne       Hot Apple Pie           Jake Owen
Steve Azar           Mark Wills               Tracy Byrd
Bobby Marquez    Shane Owens           Rebecca Lynn Howard
BlackHawk           Chely Wright            Eric Church
Ronnie Milsap      Buddy Jewell            Danielle Peck
Michelle Wright    LeAnn Rimes            Mel Tillis
Trisha Yearwood   Ray Scott                 Pam Tillis
Terri Clark           Joey Daniels            Sara Evans
John Corbett        Linda Davis              Jace Everett
Jon Randall         Billy Currington