Country music fans no longer defined age, gender or where they live
Such is the appeal of today’s country music superstars you will see 15 year olds to those well beyond 50 beating a path to see their idols perform.
And they come from anywhere – city, country and everywhere in between.
In Australia we need look no further than CMC Rocks Qld to confirm country music’s popularity is at an all-time high.
It was 12 years ago CMC Rocks was born in the Snowy Mountains after being conceived the year prior by Foxtel to establish and brand an annual world class music event.
The dream was to create a unique experience featuring local and international artists unable to be seen anywhere else.
That event began as a collaboration between two giants of the music business – Michael Chugg and Rob Potts, in partnership with Foxtel’s Country Music Channel.
It was based on the strong belief that country music fans would support an annual festival that showcased the best of the best.
Robb Potts brought his 30 years of experience in music promotion and management of household names including Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, and Brooks and Dunn.
Michael Chugg founded Chugg Entertainment which has promoted an impressive lists of stars which have toured Australia over more than 30 years. These include Elton John, Robbie Williams and Coldplay.
CMC Rocks quickly outgrew the Snowy Mountains in three years before it became necessary to move to the Hunter Valley in 2011.
Ipswich answers the call for a new home of country music
In 2015 a new home at Willowbank in Ipswich had what was needed to allow CMC Rocks to grow and cater for an increasing number of fans.
Ipswich City Council strongly supported the move north and by 2016 CMC Rocks claimed the crown as the biggest country music festival in the southern hemisphere.
The Queensland Government also supported CMC Rocks again this year through Tourism and Events Queensland.
New figures released this month revealed the 2018 event boosted visitor nights in Ipswich by an additional 53,000 – three times the 2015 event.
The estimated overnight visitor value of expenditure was $11.34 million.
The records kept coming in 2018 when the festival was completely sold out within an hour of going on sale.
The 2019 festival also sold out the same day final tickets were released on Tuesday 2 October 2018.
If you missed out there is an official wait-list to join at this website.
