02-06-2025
Downtown Nashville businesses gear up for 2025 CMA Fest
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – CMA Fest is expanding its footprint in downtown Nashville this year, so local businesses are gearing up for the influx of crowds on Broadway and beyond.
'It's like the championship of bartenders for downtown,' Faith Vaughns, a bartender at Mellow Mushroom, said.
Downtown bars are used to being busy during the summer in Music City, but employees in that area told News 2 CMA Fest is something they prepare for every year.
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'It gets pretty crazy. It's insane,' Vaughns added. 'There's so much going on. Everybody's in town for it. There's drinking, there's eating, there's several things to do down here.'
Each year, thousands of fans come from all over the world to experience the four-day event hosted by the Country Music Association.
'We look forward to it,' Shelby Denman, a bartender at Teddy's Tavern, told News 2. 'It's like our busiest time of the year, too, and I'll be working here and CMAs, so it'll be a big, busy, long weekend.'
The festival features multiple stages, concerts with some of the biggest names in country music, and several other activities throughout the city.
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'People aren't just here to be on Broadway and bar hop and stuff; they're here for CMAs and to be here and see all of that happening, so it's like they're here with a purpose, I guess, instead of just here to bar hop,' Denman explained.
Downtown businesses encourage people to use rideshare apps, park smart, wear plenty of sunscreen, and stay hydrated in the summer heat.
'Most of the people that work down here, I mean, they work doubles, opens, 'clopens,' and it's a lot of hard work; it's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that go into kind of the hosting and everything that goes into CMA Fest,' Vaughns described.
Everything kicks off on Thursday, June 5, with performances scheduled every day through Sunday, June 8.
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