Frequently Asked Questions
When did the CMA Music Festival begin?
Last Updated: 2/23/2009Fan Fair was created in 1972 after fans started showing up at the annual DJ convention in Nashville. Country Music leaders offered Fan Fair as an alternative and 5,000 people attended the first event, which was held at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium. The event moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 1982, then to Downtown Nashville in 2001. Read more in the History section.
When Fan Fair moved from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to Downtown Nashville in 2001, CMA immediately recognized that the name no longer represented what the event had become – a world-class, city-centered, music festival with bigger audiences, multiple venues and many more diverse activities than ever before. Fan Fair had evolved, and was renamed CMA Music Festival in 2004 to reflect its evolution.
But even as the event continues to grow, it's important to know that CMA values the traditions that made Fan Fair a phenomenon among music events. “Fan Fair” has come to represent the unique relationship between the artists and their fans and that will always be a centerpiece of CMA Music Festival. To symbolize this relationship, the exhibit hall area in the Nashville Convention Center, where fans receive autographs and photos with the artists at their booths, remains both the heart and the unique signature of the CMA Music Festival.
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