For four days in early June, CMA Fest turns downtown Nashville into one continuous venue: free and ticketed stages along the riverfront and Lower Broadway during the day, and the big nightly concerts across the river at Nissan Stadium. It is the busiest week of the year for every form of transportation in the city. A little planning decides whether you spend your evenings at the show or in a pickup queue.
Arriving at BNA
Flights into Nashville that week are full, and the airport is busy from Wednesday onward. If you are booking a car from the airport, do it when you book the flight. Pre-arranged chauffeurs track your flight and meet you at baggage claim or curbside; the ride downtown is about fifteen minutes outside of rush hour. Groups travelling together are better in one 14 passenger Sprinter than in three separate cars.
Getting around downtown during the day
Walk. Most daytime stages, Fan Fair X at the Music City Center, and the honky-tonks are within a mile of each other, and several blocks of Broadway and the surrounding streets are closed to cars for the festival. A car is useful for getting to downtown from your hotel or rental and back again, not for moving between stages.
Nissan Stadium nights
The stadium is across the Cumberland River from Broadway, connected by the John Seigenthaler pedestrian bridge. Walking over is easy. Getting a ride afterward is the hard part: tens of thousands of people leave at once, the stadium lots that work for a Titans game operate differently during the festival, and rideshare pickups are limited to designated zones where prices surge after the last song. The festival runs its own shuttle for ticket holders, which is a good option if your hotel is on the route.
If you book a private driver, agree the pickup point before the show. We set a meeting spot a short walk from the crowd, usually on the downtown side of the pedestrian bridge or on the East Nashville side near Shelby Avenue, and text you the exact location and vehicle before the encore.
Staying outside downtown
Hotels downtown sell out early, so many visitors stay in Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, or near the airport and Opryland. From those areas the festival is twenty to forty-five minutes away, and parking downtown is scarce and expensive that week. A round trip with a chauffeur, booked hourly so the vehicle is waiting when you are done, lets everyone in the group enjoy the evening.
When to book
Three to four weeks ahead for private drivers and Sprinters during the festival, and earlier if you need several vehicles. Prices are agreed when you book and do not rise with demand during the week. Our published rates are $95 to $125 per hour for SUVs and $175 to $195 per hour for Sprinter vans.
A simple plan that works
- Pre-book the airport transfer with your flight number.
- Stay within walking distance of downtown, or book a daily round trip.
- Walk between daytime stages.
- Decide the stadium pickup point before the first act.
- Keep one phone in the group charged for the chauffeur's text.