CMA Music Fest Sells Out All Four Nightly Concerts at LP Field

The CMA Music Festival hit an all-time record this year by selling out LP Field each night and topping 2009’s attendance record by a 16.7 percent increase.
 
The festival saw the largest increase in the free areas and in the sale of four-day ticket packages, which had a 33.3 percent increase. Single night ticket sales declined as a result and single-night seats were converted to four-day seats to supply the increase in demand. CMA tallied an average night attendance record at 49,000.
 
"This news is terrific for our community, our industry, and the artists who gave freely of their time over the past week to make CMA Music Festival the biggest and best event since it started as Fan Fair in 1972," said Steve Moore, Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors.
 
With Nashville’s recent floods in early May, businesses were shaken and forced to temporarily close their doors due to structural problems. However, many local businesses have been jolted back to life with the help of the festival.
 
Joe’s Crab Shack suffered $1 million in flood damages and was expected to keep its doors closed for 3 months. However, its doors were back open for business on June 8.
 
"CMA Music Festival is the key to our success for the summer," said Ray Lockhart, General Manager of Joe's Crab Shack in downtown Nashville. "We actually had a record day on Saturday, doing $42,333, about $800 more than we'd done the previous Festival. And typically, we do about $30,000."
 
The CMA Music Festival donates half of the net proceeds from the year’s festival to music education in the “Keep the Music Playing” partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education. The remaining portion of the net proceeds will go to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to aid flood victims in need.
 
Pam Garrett, Executive Director of Nashville Alliance for Public Education, believes the diligent management of CMA helped provide “Keep the Music Playing” with more funds this year. "I am so appreciative of our Country Music Association and artists. They care about our students, they care about our quality of life, and they care about Nashville," Garrett said.