There was many surprises in store for the visitors to this years 2009 CMA Music Festival known to many as what used to be called Fan Fair. Each year the promise to get bigger and better makes it even harder the following year to uphold to its promise. This year however returned many Artists to the stage that have not graced the Music festival in many, many years. Many people flocked to Nashville this last week to have the chance to get up close and personal with many of the artists. Some people sat outside the Nashville Convention Center overnight in order to get up close with Miss Carrie Underwood. One woman said she got there the night before and had been there almost 24 hours in order to be the first thru the doors to get a autograph and get her picture taken with Carrie. Another big photo opportunity this year was for everyone to get to meet and have their picture taken with Reba McEntire who has not been to the festival in many years. With a new upcoming hit on country television. Her newest single is "Strange" and is currently on the "Top 20 Countdown" On both Country Music Stations. Another big Singer that appeared to the music scene this year was Country Music Artist Kenny Chesney. Another surprise to many fans who enjoyed the nightly concerts at LP Field was the surprise guest of Sugarland. Not scheduled to make an apperance this year due to touring they were able to be just one of the many surprises that many of the fans wait for.

Everyday during the festival had held up to its promise of being a great year. With many acts to see and many autographs to great, It proved to be well worth the cost of the festival in these hard times. This year had been a little different then the previous years because the daily Riverfront Series of Concerts were free and open to the public. Many fans would wait in line for hours to be able to get right inside and get upclose to all the singers taking the stage. This year had turned out to be especially touching for Jason Michael Carroll who was celebrating his birthday during the festival. He enjoyed a touching serenade of Happy Birthday To You from the crowd of fans all there to hoot and holler to hear him sing his hit single "Where Im From". Jason Michael Carroll had been there the whole week making several apperances at just about any function that the CMA Festival was holding this year. The kickoff to the festival this year started out with the Parade who Rodney Atkins was the Grand Marshall of, and also performed for everyone in the Sommet Center Square. Joining him was of Course Jason Michael Carroll who was joined on stage by his adorable son JW who took the stage away with his own little guitar and microphone. It was he who everyone was cheering for, Im sure of it. JW Being the spitting image of his daddy, who enjoys all the same things and shows it will of course be the next generation of country music in that family. Jason Michael Carroll went from there directly to the Celebrity Softball Game to participate in that. Helping to raise money is always a great cause for Jason. Many other stars who were participating in the softball game was Carrie Underwood and Montgomery Gentry and Josh Turner was there also. This is just another chance for fans to get to participate in autograph signings and get a chance to meet some of their favorite stars.

During this week of CMA Fest Nashville be host to many and I do mean Many Fan club parties. Most fans will also get a chance to see their favorites perform up close in many of the downtown local hangouts after hours at many parties being thrown. Many of the local hangouts will run til the early morning with the crowds flocking from one place to another just to see who they might run into. In Nashville Many of the local venue's were hosting fan club parties. Many of them not being announced until just before the CMA Festival got under way. Luke Bryan was just one of the stars TWITTERING about the location of his fan club party and would do updates on what was going on and was giving away the chance to attend his party if you knew of a certain keyword that you could only get from his twitter site or from a mobile list that you had to be signed up for. Alan Jackson held a special concert free to so many fans at the well known Bar and Grill The Cadillac Ranch. Many fans waited in long lines to just be able to get the wristband to allow them into the venue for the free concert. The Hard Rock Cafe also had a stage outside their venue that held a concert series also with a few well known singers.

Saturday afternoon in the Family Fun Zone of the festival a huge tent was occupied by fans all wanting to bid on items autographed and donated by many big name celebrities where all the money raised would be donated to the Domestic Violence cause. While visiting this location I was able to see a large (and I do mean Large) autographed poster of Wynonna from last years CMA Fest. I got to see autographed lyrics and music by Taylor Swift for her new song Love Story with a autographed CD Of Fearless. I got to see a Miranda Lambert plaquer of Crazy Ex Girlfriend cd, Also a cowboy hat signed by Mr Trace Adkins. So as you can see there were lots of items donated for auction to help out a good cause.

Inside the Sommet Center each year is a large (Or supposed to be a large)so called yard sale to host many items donated from the record companies. Many of these items are Promotional items that they were unable to get rid of such as CD's, Hats, Shirts,Posters, and so forth. Here you can purchase most of the items for just a few dollars. Sometimes you will find rare items that you wouldnt have expected to be at the yard sale. At the end of the festival the items that could not be sold will be really cheap for a couple of dollars per bag during their Bag Sale. Whatever you can fit in a bag you can get for usually just $5 dollars a bag full. Last year we bought over a 100 cd's for just 5 bucks. We were also able to purchase shot glasses and hats and anything else you might be able to think about.

Now I will give you a list of who was all in attendance at the festival this year. I hope you enjoyed this article and will use some of the popular links to locate more information that I was unable to provide for you.

Sugarland

Kenny Chesney

Taylor Swift

John Rich

Heidi Newfield

Montgomery Gentry

Darius Rucker

Jack Ingram

Cowboy Troy

Miranda Lambert

Jason Michael Carroll

Josh Turner

Blake Shelton

Jamey Johnson

Leann Womack

Martina McBride

Trace Adkins

The Judds

Dierks Bentley

Rascal Flatts

Brooks and Dunn

Brad Paisley

JoDee Messina

James Otto

Rodney Atkins

Keith Anderson

Gretchen Wilson

Reba McEntire

Julianna Hough

Jason Aldean

Little Big Town

Luke Bryan

Lady Antebellum

Jake Owen

The Zac Brown Band

John Rich

Eric Church

Tracy Byrd

The Eli Young Band

Bucky Covington

Diamond Rio

Emerson Drive

Jessica Harp

Joey and Rory

Josh Gracin

Glorianna

Randy Houser

The Lost Trailers

Neal McCoy

Lorrie Morgan

Joe Nichols

Jamie O'Neal

Oak Ridge Boys

James Otto

Collin Raye

Restless Heart

Ashton Shepherd

Aaron Tippin

Phil Vasser

Clay Walker

Chuck Wicks

Trent Wilmon

Mark Wills

Daryl Worley

and finally

Chris Young

As you can see for all that you get its well worth the cost of each ticket. This is just a list of what happened that you had access to with passes. If you want there are many many more areas that are free of charge not to mention all the freebies that you can get from each area. This year samples of Ice Cream were given out by Blue Bell, Sweet Tea and Smoothies from Smoothie King, Vault from Coca Cola and many many more items. Nationwide had a drawing to win a trip to meet Dale Jr and many more trips also given away.

Hope you enjoyed my hub... Check back more often more hubs..