CMC Rocks returning in September 2022 after two-year hiatus
Country music extravaganza CMC Rocks has pushed back from March to September 2022 after being on a COVID-caused hiatus for the past two years.
The new date will ensure that its US-based names can perform.
The first two superstar headliners announced this morning, Brad Paisley and Kane Brown, are visiting Australia for the first time.
Nashville-based Aussie expatriate Morgan Evans is also returning to play the main stage.
Potts Entertainment, Chugg Entertainment and Frontier Touring will stage CMC Rocks’ 15th anniversary at Willowbank in Queensland from Wednesday, September 21 to Sunday, 25.
The festival returns to its traditional March slot from 2023.
“We couldn’t wait,” Chugg Entertainment chairman Michael Chugg exclaimed this morning.
“We know that it’s been a long year and a half for country music fans, we’ve felt it too.
“After making the heartbreaking decision to postpone our 2020 event a week before the festival was due to take place, we’ve been working hard to navigate all the changes and find the best way forward, safely”.
Jeremy Dylan, festival director at Potts Entertainment, said it was significant the event was returning on its 15th anniversary year.
“Next September’s festival will be a celebration of everything that has made CMC Rocks and the CMC Rocks community so incredibly special – and for the privilege to gather together again and be united by our love of country music.”
Dylan added: “It’s also very special to be making this announcement on my late father Rob Potts’ birthday.
“His vision as founder of CMC Rocks is what we are striving to live up to and bring to life, and to be coming back with Brad Paisley as one of our headliners – an artist he worked to bring to Australia since the festival began – will make it as unforgettable for us as it will be for the fans.”
In 2019, CMC Rocks sold out in 90 minutes for the third consecutive year, and drew 24,000 for each day.
Over half of CMC Rocks’ audience comes from outside Queensland.
Queensland Government research released in October 2018 found that CMC Rocks’ economic impact has tripled since it began staging in the state in 2015, generating more than 53,000 visitor nights and generating overnight visitor expenditure of $11.34 million.
Tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe was among those who welcomed the event, saying: “It has been included as a not-to-be-missed show on the state’s It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar because of its reputation for attracting country music fans from across Australia and making a significant contribution to our visitor economy.”