Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum turning back clock to Fan Fair for CMA Fest events

Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·3 min read

The Country Music Association's 50th CMA Fest celebration is just under a month away from seeing somewhere in the neighborhood of tens of thousands of country music fanatics taking over Lower Broadway for half a week of celebration highlighting the finest of decades of popular artists in the genre.

Among many of a likely plethora of activities will include the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum both hosting a June 10 screening of 1997's The Nashville Network-aired documentary "Fan Fair Phenomenon," plus unveiling "In the Hands of the Fans: Fifty Years of CMA Fest," a new photography exhibition highlighting CMA Fest’s half-century history, opening on June 6.

The former is available at 2:30 p.m. in the museum's Ford Theater on the 10th, with the cost of museum admission -- and free for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum members. Hosted by LeAnn Rimes, the special takes viewers behind the scenes of the festival alongside Deana Carter, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Kenny Rogers, Marty Stuart, and Pam Tillis.

Alan Jackson interacts with the crowds during his Arista Nashville performance during Fan Fair June 22, 1998 at the State Fairgrounds.
Alan Jackson interacts with the crowds during his Arista Nashville performance during Fan Fair June 22, 1998 at the State Fairgrounds.

As for the latter, the exhibition -- available for free through November 2023 in the museum’s first-floor Community Corridor -- will highlight Fan Fest's 50-year evolution from Fan Fair -- an overflow-reducing event from country music's then-annual DJ Convention, held at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium in April 1972 -- to an event that, in the past 25 years, has seen an over 200 percent rise in attendance (and venue changes from The Nashville Fairgrounds to Lower Broadway), now featuring both emerging and superstar country music artists.

Phots featured will include the following:

A fan gets a smile out of Garth Brooks as he signs his autograph for her at his booth during the 21st annual Fan Fair at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds June 9, 1992.
A fan gets a smile out of Garth Brooks as he signs his autograph for her at his booth during the 21st annual Fan Fair at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds June 9, 1992.

  • Jimmie Allen interacting with fans at Chevy Riverfront Stage, CMA Fest, June 6, 2019.

  • Garth Brooks signing autographs and interacting with fans for 23 hours without a break at Fan Fair, June 11, 1996.

  • Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum staff member Peter Cooper interviewing Country Music Hall of Fame member Ray Stevens at Xfinity Fan Fair X at Music City Center during CMA Fest, June 6, 2019.

  • Singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson performing at her first fan club party, held at Douglas Corner Café during Fan Fair, June 13, 2002.

  • Fans thronging to meet Loretta Lynn at her fan club booth in the exhibit hall at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Fan Fair, 1983.

  • Barbara Mandrell, catcher and leader of women’s softball team the Do-Rites, making a dramatic catch during a game with Men’s Division team the Nashville Pickers at the Fan Fair Softball Tournament at Two Rivers Park, June 5, 1978.

  • Paul and Linda McCartney -- in Nashville to rehearse and record with their band, Wings -- chatting with Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner backstage during the Third Annual Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, held at Opryland, June 16, 1974.

  • • Charley Pride signing autographs in the exhibit area at Municipal Auditorium during Fan Fair, 1977. That year, Pride hosted Fan Fair’s first annual International Country Music Show, which included acts from Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Holland and Japan.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum turning back clock to Fan Fair for CMA Fest events