CMA Music Festival - Family Guide

It's been several years since the CMA Music Festival (aka Fan Fair) moved from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. That move initially brought on grumbles from many country music fans and many local Nashvillian's, as well, but the move has turned out been a good one for Nashville and it's visiting country fans as you can se by it's continual growing numbers.

Not only is the attendance growing but also the CMA Music Festival itself is expanding year after year, bringing more and more events. Every Year there seems to be more stages, which means more music and performances.

Some of the stages usually include:
- Bridgestone Stage located at the Bridgestone Arena
- Riverfront Stage located at Riverfront Park
- Nightly Concert Stage located at LP Field (the football coliseum)
- Acoustic Stage located inside the Nashville Convention Center (Exhibit hall)
- Several Zone Stages (located throughout Downtown Nashville)
- Various Venues on Lower Broadway & in Downtown Nashville

That's a ton of stages of ongoing music! Some might not think that's a lot of stages, but once you add in the other 40-50 stages located in the downtown clubs and surrounding businesses- that's a lot of music!

Along with the increase in musical performances, the CMA Music Festival has also included more ticket options for attendees, including the single nightly coliseum tickets at an affordable price. These additional ticket options have been in place for a few years now but it seems that lately they are gaining in popularity, especially with many local Nashvillian's who have typically avoided the CMAfest in years past.

The old interstate traffic jams and wayward visitors associated with the CMA Music Festival have all but disappeared with the CMAfest move to downtown, with the exception the occasional year when Bonnaroo is held the same week as the CMA Music Festival.

The optional 4-day coliseum parking pass, for around $30, along with their free shuttles has been a tremendous relief to CMA Music Festival ticket holders and no doubt to the local Nashville Community.

If you don't need a 4-day parking pass, single day parking at the coliseum is also made available on a first come first serve basis to CMA Music Festival visitors at a nominal cost. Additionally, for a small cost, there are shuttles available if you need to get back in forth from downtown Nashville to the Music Valley Area.

Visitors needing to get to other areas can also use the local bus Transit system (MTA), take one of the many cab services available, or if money is no option you can cruise the town in style, by limousine. Whatever form of transportation you opt to take- the transportation is readily available.

The CMA Music Festival has always attracted the die-hard country music fans but in recent years it has also been attracting a newer and younger crowd. One might first attribute that to the newer hipper county music genre that have emerged. Either way the CMA Music Festival has been striving to ensure that everyone young and old feels welcome and has a great time at CMA Music Festival.

This is very evident in many of the CMA Music Festival Zone Areas including the Family Zone, the Fun Zone, and the Sports Zone (all of which are free and open to the general public). These area's have enough entertainment, not just musical, to keep a family entertained and busy for days on end.