2008 CMA Music Festival Attendance Up 9.4 Percent
CMA Music Festival hit an all-time high attendance record in 2008 with a 9.4 percent increase over 2007 during the four-day Festival, Thursday through Sunday, in Downtown Nashville.
“Even with gasoline prices around $4 a gallon and weak economic conditions around the country, we saw an increase in our attendance on every level from local and regional participation to those fans that travelled from around the world,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese. “I believe that speaks to the strength of the event, the popularity of our artists, the dedication of our fans, and the entertainment value of the Festival.”
The average daily attendance in 2008 was 52,000. By comparison, in 2007 the average daily attendance was nearly 48,000.
Fans definitely enjoyed themselves and made it known at the Box Office. Tickets for CMA Music Festival 2009, which will be held June 11-14, went on sale Saturday and Gold Circle four-day ticket packages sold out in a record 15 minutes. By Sunday, advance sales bested sales during the same period in 2007, by 4.2 percent.
“You know you are giving the fans what they want when they put down their hard-earned money for an event and we haven’t even announced who will be performing,” remarked Genovese.
Increased sales of four-day ticket packages and single concert tickets contributed to the growth, as well as record attendance at CMA Music Festival’s free areas—including the McDonald’s®-Dr Pepper® Family Zone, Fun Zone, Chevy™ Sports Zone and Chevy Plaza.
Surprise appearances are a hallmark of this event, and 2008 didn’t disappoint. The first night at the VAULT™ Concert Stage at LP Field included an unannounced appearance by reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year Rascal Flatts. On Friday, Keith Urban delighted the crowd—and one fan in particular—when he leapt from the stage, sprinted into the stands and autographed his guitar for the stunned fan. Jessica Simpson made several unannounced appearances including the Wednesday Block Party, the Fan Fair Hall and at LP Field. Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn also made an unexpected appearance to sign autographs for fans.
“We love giving our fans something special and unexpected,” Genovese said. “It is amazing to hear the stadium erupt in applause when an unannounced guest steps out on that stage.”
And it all benefits children and music education in Nashville. The artists and celebrities participating in CMA Music Festival donate their time. They are not compensated for the hours they spend signing autographs and performing. In appreciation of their exhaustive efforts, CMA donates half the net proceeds from the event to music education on their behalf through a partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education called “Keep the Music Playing.”
To date, CMA has donated more than $1 million on behalf of the artists who participate in the Festival—including $368,500 from the 2006 CMA Music Festival and $655,600 from 2007 CMA Music Festival. Several students groups participated in the Festival including drum corps from Antioch and Overton High Schools, who marched in “The Fourth Annual CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade.” In addition, 800 students were given tickets to attend Saturday night through the generosity of HCA/TriStar.
CMA Music Festival is—and always will be—about the fans and their relationship with the artists and the music. The theme is universal and in 2008 Festival attendees came from every state and 28 foreign countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Latvia, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom (which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

The state of continuous commotion that’s been the standard for the truTV™ Fan Fair Hall was back in force with 408 artists and celebrities appearing at the Nashville Convention Centre. Exhibit booths sold out with 110 exhibitors. Attendance over the four days was more than 53,000. For the first time, single day tickets to the Fan Fair Hall were available for purchase Saturday and Sunday.

“This is my first time at CMA Music Festival. I’m really impressed with the way fans form friendships here. I definitely want to become a part of this community over the next several years,” said Taylor Young, 27, of Mountain View, Calif.

As in previous years, dedicated fans camped out on the street outside of the Exhibit Hall starting at 8:00 PM, not only in hopes of being the first in line for autographs when the doors opened the following morning, but also to share in what has become a special tradition for this group. “I came down here at 5 this morning and found there was already a long line to get in,” said Sam Pfeiffer, 36, of Arlington, Va., on Thursday morning. “I guess I’ll have to make it earlier tomorrow, but that just adds to the sense of adventure.”

Their dedication paid off. Aaron Tippin surprised the assembled fans and signed autographs around 2:00 AM Thursday following his performance at The Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam.

Country superstar Alan Jackson made his first appearance in the Fan Fair Hall since 1998 Friday signing 300 autographs in two hours with his wife and author Denise Jackson.

Teen sensation Taylor Swift signed in the Big Machine Records booth Saturday from the time the doors opened at 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM—with no break. She signed 900 autographs, the longest consecutive signing since Garth Brooks’ marathon 23 hour signing in 1996.

Kix Brooks made a surprise appearance in the Fan Fair Hall signing approximately 500 autographs in three hours at the Brooks & Dunn booth—after signing another 100 in the Borders® booth. Carrie Underwood signed 400 autographs in four hours and Wynonna signed for five hours. Other popular artists included Jessica Simpson, Kellie Pickler, Sara Evans, Julianne Hough, Lady Antebellum, Bucky Covington, Billy Gilman, Emerson Drive, Joe Nichols, James Otto and Chris Young.

Mary Kay® presents Acoustic Corner, which launched in 2004 as a showcase for independent artists, featured 30 solo or group performers. The area on the second floor of the Convention Centre hosted a steady stream of fans.

Borders had locations at the Exhibit Hall, Riverfront and LP Field. The Top 5 selling CD titles belonged to (in order) Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift, Joe Nichols, Carrie Underwood, and Chris Young—who all signed in the Fan Fair Hall during the Festival. Other best-selling artists included Lady Antebellum, Jake Owen, Kellie Pickler, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Whiskey Falls, and Stephen Cochran.

“One of the goals with this event is to help build a marketing platform for developing artists,” Genovese said. “With the variety of artists on the list, it tells me that our fans are discovering new music at CMA Music Festival and they aren’t waiting until they get home to buy it.”

The official CMA Music Festival merchandise line was very popular with attendees. According to Music City Merchandise, which designs and produces the collection, onsite sales were up nearly 11 percent over 2007. A popular item this year was a T-shirt that listed all announced performers for the Nightly Concerts. Music City Merchandise, which had booths at the truTV Fan Fair Hall, Greased Lightning Daytime Stages, McDonald’s-Dr Pepper Family Zone, the Sommet Centre, and VAULT Concert Stage at LP Field, has been CMA’s merchandise partner for the past 14 years.

CMA’s free Chevy Sports Zone was a huge hit with participants and fans looking for fun and friendly competition. More thank 100 celebrities, artists and athletes participated in Chevy Sports Zone activities during the four days.

“The Field & Stream Celebrity Total Outdoorsman Challenge presented by Mobil 1″ was a highlight Thursday with Country Music artists and other celebrities showing off their outdoor skills with contests in archery, fly casting, bait casting, and air rifle and attempting to beat the two-time Total Outdoorsman Challenge Champion Paul Thompson, who also joined the competition. In an upset that had people buzzing, Daniel Lee Martin beat Thompson for the First Place seat. Martin’s prizes including a televised hunting trip and new BowTech bow. On Friday, the Field & Stream held local and regional Total Outdoorsman Challenges. Cory Jones finished first out of nine competitors in the local qualifier, winning an all-expense paid trip for two to the 2008 CMA Awards and moving on to the regional qualifier. Also moving on to the regional qualifier were Scot Marcin, Paul Hughes, and Martin (who was invited to compete in the regional qualifier based on his scores from Thursday). Nineteen outdoorsmen competed in the regional qualifier Friday afternoon. Chris Nischan and Martin had the best scores and will compete in Field & Stream Total Outdoorsman Challenge National Championship, Sept. 5-7 in Springfield, Mo.

The fur was flying during the DockDogs® Competitions Presented by Outdoor Channel. Competitions took place in the DockDogs’ 25,000 gallon mobile pool. During the Celebrity Challenge on Sunday, Outdoor Channel host Mike Pawlawski and his canine partner Quasi won with a distance of 24 feet, 10 inches, setting a new record for the DockDogs Celebrity Challenge. The Outdoor Channel’s Tiffany LaKowsky and Bo won the silver medal with a distance of 20 feet, 5 inches. Trick Pony’s Keith Burns and Cheyenne took home the bronze leaping for 19 feet, 11 inches. Also placing in the top tier were CMT’s Katie Cook and Rachel Reinhart from the band Gloriana.

The Celebrity Sports Challenge Presented by Glaceau Vitaminwater® Hosted by Steve Azar proved to be a fan favourite with an amazing array of sports champions and celebrities competing along with Azar and other artists. Five teams competed, each identified by the colour of their jersey. In the end, victory was awarded to the Navy team, which included Todd Armstrong, Steve Azar, Aaron Benward of Blue County, former NFL linebacker Steve Cole, Tennessee Titans punter Craig Hentrich, and Ken Purvis.

The Outdoor Life Calling for Conservation Competition took place Friday. Hosted by Shoot Straight TV’s Chad Schearer, this game-calling contest highlights the launch of a new conservation program: Outdoor Life’s “Project Save-A-Stream,” a nation-wide program dedicated to cleaning up our waterways. Professional and celebrity callers competed to determine the best turkey and big game calls.

Two winners were selected: Julie Ingram was the audience favourite, based on volume of applause, but the judges gave the official first prize to Trent Willmon, along with an Alberta Canada Black Bear Hunt and a check for $1,000 to donate to the conservation organisation of his choice.

The first ever CMA Music Festival BBQ Championship took place Saturday and Sunday. Teams from across the nation competed in four categories (pork ribs, pork shoulder, beef brisket and chicken) for a chance to win a share of more than $17,000 in cash and prizes to be distributed to category winners.

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