CMA Fest sets attendance record, Bonnaroo drops

The CMA Music Festival set a new attendance record this year, even as the simultaneous Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival saw a dip, according to officials from the two Middle Tennessee events.

CMA Fest brought in roughly 88,500 fans per day this year, counting tickets sold to the concerts at Nissan Stadium, promotional tickets, attendance at Fan Fair X at Music City Center and fans who attended free concerts downtown.

CMA Fest’s new stages at Ascend Amphitheater hosted 5,000 fans each day, the CMA announced Monday. Economic impact numbers for CMA Fest will be released in the coming weeks.

Four-day tickets to the shows at Nissan Stadium typically sell out before the concert lineups are announced.

“The advance sellout speaks to the strength of the event, but great weather, the addition of two new, free stages at Ascend Amphitheater, and record crowds at Fan Fair X at the Music City Center contributed to our attendance hike,” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern said. “We continue to see strong local and regional support for this event, which is a boon to the city of Nashville.”

Meanwhile, 65 miles down the road from Nashville, Bonnaroo’s organizers in recent days indicated to business and government leaders in Coffee County that attendance would drop from last year’s announced attendance of 80,000. In a speech to the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce, AC Entertainment vice president for community relations and strategic partnerships Jeff Cuellar cited the evolving, more competitive summer festival schedule.

During the festival, Bonnaroo's organizers maintained the event is as popular as ever.

"For the past 15 years we've been extremely fortunate to have over a million fans share the Bonnaroo experience with us," they said in a statement. "While our attendance is slightly lower this year, the Bonnaroo community is as vibrant as ever and excited about celebrating this milestone year on The Farm."

Although some artists play both Bonnaroo and CMA Fest, the two festivals generally draw from different demographics.

Bonnaroo is proposing to bring more music festivals to the Great Stage Park property, which it owns. That festival’s owners are in early stage talks with Coffee County about extending their agreement, which expires after the 2017 event.

“When Bonnaroo first started in 2002, you could count the number of major musical festivals in the U.S. on one hand,” Cuellar told the chamber crowd last week. “But today we are competing against dozens of other festivals — Hangout, CMAs, Riverbend, Firefly, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Beale Street, CounterPoint, Sasquatch and countless others.”

CMA Fest has been experiencing steady attendance growth as the festival expands its footprint and offers more free concerts. Tourism leaders have lauded the festival for growing into an event that brings visitors to Nashville for more than four nights.

Last year’s festival brought direct visitor spending of $46.8 million and a per-visitor spending of $900. Direct spending increased last year to $60.4 million if spending by fans who did not have tickets was counted. Those numbers are expected to rise this year.

Country music sees growth with millennials, Hispanic fans

For the first time since moving to downtown Nashville in 2001, Chevrolet Riverfront Stage reached capacity twice on opening day. Official CMA Music Festival merchandise sales increased 16 percent over 2015.

“This year’s festival brought new and bigger immersive partner activations that enhanced the experience for both fans and brands and continued to differentiate our festival as a global leader in music festival brand partnerships,” said Damon Whiteside, the CMA's senior vice president of marketing and strategic partnerships. “The increased attendance and fan engagement showcase the passion and loyalty of our country music fans and artists in addition to the dynamic opportunity for brands to reach this meaningful audience and create lasting impressions.”

In addition to the record attendance at CMA Fest, the CMT Awards also set a new record for viewership with 3.6 million fans watching last week’s show.

Research data released earlier this year by the CMA showed country music broadening its fan base, and that was manifested in the festival's attendance. Fans came from all 50 states and 25 countries, including Argentina, China, Finland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The genre is particularly growing with millennial and Hispanic fans.

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.