- Parking: If you are driving down, the cheapest parking that I found was $25, but parking ranged up to $60 per day. $25 parking was located at the base of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge right by Nissan Stadium. Underneath the Music City Convention Center was also $25 parking- this was where I parked every day. Its really easy to get into and out of and it is right in the middle of everything so I could go back to my car for water, to drop stuff off, etc. whenever I needed to. Festivities don't start until 10, but I got there to park around 8 each day. I think getting there anytime after 8:30 you may struggle to get cheap parking. That being said, there is a shuttle that transports people around Nashville, and certain hotels may have shuttles that venture downtown during the daytime hours.
- Food/Drinks: If you drive to downtown Nashville, you can easily bring your own food and beverage and store it in your car. I would recommend bringing your beverages, but when in Nashville, eat like a Nashvillian! There is nothing better than Nashville food trucks. (Or I suppose you could eat on Broadway). There are a dozen food trucks with grub ranging from BBQ to tacos to ice cream to sno cones. Food prices ranged from $5 to $12, you could find bottled water from street venders for a buck, and soda for a couple dollars. I think adult beverages were roughly 9 bucks a pop, but I stuck with water so I'm not entirely sure.
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- Fan Fair X: If you want to attend the meet and greets, see interviews with big stars at the CMA Close Up stage, or see performances at the Radio Disney Country stage, you have to get a ticket to Fan Fair X. The most expensive ticket is $50 for all four days (Thursday-Sunday). It gets you into the Fan Fair (located in the Music City Convention Center) each day, but also gives you early entrance to the Riverfront Stage and discounts to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium. (There may be more perks to this- I'm not an expert yet!) You can also buy daily passes to the fan fair for $10 each, or a four day pass for $25. I recommend you buy your passes plenty of time in advance so they can mail them to you! I didn't buy mine until the week up because I was going on a whim and wasn't making set plans which meant I had to wait in line at will call to pick them up AFTER the FFX opened. Lastly, the line starts at the door by about 7. I got there after 8 one day and was quite a ways back, but got there around 7:30 another day and was maybe the 30th person in line. Bags do get checked here and you can't bring any of your own food or drink.
- Meet and Greets: A lot of the really small artists do meet and greets in the FFX for anyone who gets in line. The bigger artists (but not HUGE ones) you have to sign up ahead of time for. There is a form you have to fill out around the end of May and submit it, then they will send you specific QR codes for the artists you get to meet. That being said, if you don't get a QR code for an artist you want to meet, or you're like me and don't realize you have to do this until after the deadline, they have "hopeful" lines that you can wait in and if everyone gets through the artists line before their time is up, they will bring in people from the "hopeful" line. The bigger the artist, the earlier the line will start for them, and they will fill up QUICK! For example, Easton Corbin was signing at 11AM, I got in the hopeful line at roughly 9:50, and was probably the 25th person or so. By 11AM there was easily 100 people in the hopeful line. Depending on the booth, they get the lines through pretty quick, so if you have the patience to wait in line you will likely meet the artist. They're also pretty good about cutting off the hopeful line when they think its getting too long so you don't wait around for nothing.
- Chevrolet Riverfront Stage: This stage is right down by the river across from Nissan Stadium. The bigger artists perform here. The line starts for this stage by 8AM, but you will get in first at 9:30 if you have that $50 pass! Bags do get checked here and you can't bring any of your own food or drink. You can however bring a chair/blanket to set up to sit on.
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| Scotty McCreery on the Riverfront Stage |
- Chevrolet Park Stage: This stage is right across from the Country Music Hall of Fame in Music City Walk of Fame Park. The smaller artists play here and throughout the morning and early afternoon it pretty much clears out between artists so it is easy to get to the front.
- Other Stages: Cracker Barrel Stage is located at the Ascend Amphitheater and hosts free concerts. Additionally, the big artists perform at Nissan Stadium each night which you will need to buy a separate ticket for.
- CMAs: The actual Country Music Awards take place on Wednesday night and they broadcast them on screens in downtown Nashville. Additionally, they have a couple artists performing outside the venue throughout the night for the crowd to enjoy. You can see the stars come and go outside the venue before and after the ceremony! This year, Brothers Osborne and Kelsey Ballerini performed outside between the presentations of awards and Jason Aldean performed afterwards.
Tickets are already on sale for next year!
http://www.cmaworld.com/cma-music-festival/
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