CMA Fest Draws Record Crowd

According to the Country Music Association, the daily attendance for this year’s music fest averaged 65,000 – that’s 9,000 more than last year.

Downtown store-owners always count on this weekend carry their annual sales, but this year some businesses needed the extra boost because of damages and lost sales from last month’s flood.

Linda Gorby manages Nashville Cowboy on Broadway. She says she was glad to see the crowds.

“We were busy from ding to dong, the whole day. It was… yeah, elbow to elbow, which we love. We love the craziness. We love it. We feed off of it.”

CMA officials say four-day ticket package sales grew by more than a third over last year.

The Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau has not yet released the financial impact from visitor spending, but last year’s CMA crowd spent $22 million.