CMA/ABCThough CMA Fest was cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Country Music Association has found a way to bring the festival to fans’ screens with CMA Best of Fest.
Luke Bryan will host the three-hour retrospective event that will feature highlights from the festival’s storied history, with more than 25 performances taken from the past 16 years of the TV special.
Fans can look forward to seeing performances by Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Blake Shelton and many others.
The show will also include a collaborative performance by Luke and Darius Rucker. Gwen Stefani, Lionel Richie and Michael Strahan are among the other artists appearing in the special.
Preluding Best of Fest will be the online variety event CMA Summer Stay-Cay, hosted by Jimmie Allen and Lindsay Ell, that will see more than 50 country acts virtually coming together for special performances, Q&A sessions and other activities. The multi-hour event airs on the CMA YouTube and Facebook pages on July 1.
CMA Best of Fest will broadcast on July 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. CMA Fest 2021 is scheduled for June 10-13 in Nashville.
By Cillea Houghton
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