Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini are confirmed to return as hosts of the 2018 CMA Fest set to air on Wednesday, August 8th at 8pm ET/PT. This year’s fan festival marks Rhett and Ballerini’s second year pairing up to handle hosting duties for the three-hour special airing on ABC.
The 2018 CMA Fest marks the 15th year the music festival’s being televised.
“This year’s CMA Fest is our biggest yet, with many artists debuting full festival sets on the Nissan Stadium stage,” stated Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association’s Chief Executive Officer. “We’re thrilled once again to broadcast CMA Fest and bring the festival to millions of Country Music fans not only here in the U.S. but all around the world.”
“Thomas and Kelsea are the embodiment of the summer fun that is CMA Fest, and we are so excited they’ll be back for year two,” added Rob Mills, ABC Entertainment Senior Vice President, Alternative Series, Specials & Late-Night Programming.
The Country music-driven special will be shot during the CMA Fest which will take place in Nashville from June 7 through June 10. Dozens of artists are scheduled to entertain Country fans on the 11 stages set up in downtown Nashville during the event. Proceeds from the festival go toward assisting the CMA Foundation with their “mission of enriching and sustaining music education programs. Through strategic partnerships, professional development and grant distribution, the CMA Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), has invested over $21 million in 85 programs across the national public school system, after school programs, summer camps and community outreach organizations.”
Among the artists set to perform at this month’s festival are Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Brett Eldredge, Charles Esten and Friends, Florida Georgia Line, Dustin Lynch, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Ricky Skaggs, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Lee Ann Womack, and Brett Young.
