CMA Fest

WeGo runs a special CMA Fest Express commuter-rail service from Lebanon into Nashville's Riverfront Station which sits directly inside the festival footprint at the downtown riverfront stages, steps from the pedestrian bridge to Nissan Stadium. In 2026 it ran on the Saturday of the fest: Lebanon 4pm, Hamilton Springs 4:08, Martha 4:15, Mt. Juliet 4:25, Hermitage 4:35, Donelson 4:45, arriving Riverfront 5pm; return departs Riverfront 1am. Advance purchase only, via ticketsnashville.com (linked from the WeGo event page). Free parking at outlying stations; none at Riverfront. Note this serves regional day-trippers, not BNA arrivals the Donelson and Hermitage stations are however a short rideshare from the airport for anyone deliberately combining the two. Nashville has no Amtrak service (none since the 1970s); Amtrak sells only Thruway coach connections into the downtown bus station

For attendees arriving overland: Greyhound and FlixBus share the downtown Nashville Bus Station at 709 Rep. John Lewis Way S in SoBro, roughly a 10-15 minute walk from the Broadway/Lower Broad festival footprint and about 20-25 minutes on foot (or a short rideshare) from Nissan Stadium via the pedestrian bridge. Amtrak sells connecting Thruway coach tickets into the same station

Bus between BNA's Ground Transportation Center (Level 1, Terminal 2 Garage) and the Elizabeth Duff Transit Center at WeGo Central downtown a few blocks from the Broadway festival footprint and the free downtown stages; Nissan Stadium is then a 10-15 min walk across the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. Express runs about 20 minutes, local runs 35-45 minutes. Pay on board via QuickTicket, contactless card/mobile wallet, or exact cash; each fare includes a 2-hour pass. CMA Fest's own Getting Around page points attendees to WeGo as a driving alternative

Uber and Lyft pick up from BNA's Ground Transportation Center, Terminal Garage 2, Level 1 CMA Fest's official Getting Around page confirms rideshare operations continue there during the airport's construction (which began June 1). Downtown is a 15-25 min ride. During the festival itself, expect surge pricing around stadium-doors time (~8pm) and after shows; the festival closes streets across the downtown core, so drivers drop at the footprint perimeter rather than at venues. Airport-regulated metered taxis queue at the same Ground Transportation Center with a city-set flat rate downtown

Genuine hotel-operated Downtown Shuttle, ticketed on the resort's own site: departs the Cascades Transportation Depot hourly, drops at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum inside the CMA Fest downtown footprint, adjacent to Fan Fair X at Music City Center (Nissan Stadium is then the standard 10-15 min pedestrian-bridge walk). $15 one-way / $28 round-trip, with the resort's own caveat that prices are 'subject to change based on special events'. Base schedule is Friday & Saturday only (resort departures noon-10pm on the hour, downtown returns 12:30-10:30pm on the half-hour) festival-week service levels and late-night coverage after stadium shows should be confirmed with the resort, since the last scheduled return predates stadium set-end times

Physically connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and adjacent to Music City Center (Fan Fair X) effectively inside the festival footprint; ~15 min walk to Nissan Stadium via the pedestrian bridge. Books out far ahead for CMA Fest week

Nashville Yards, ~10-12 min walk to the Broadway stages and Fan Fair X; ~20-25 min walk to Nissan Stadium via the pedestrian bridge

Boutique property in the Printer's Alley/4th Ave core, ~5 min walk to Broadway daytime stages, ~12-15 min to the riverfront and pedestrian bridge

Mid-price downtown option ~0.3 mi from the Ryman/Broadway core; walkable to all free stages and the pedestrian bridge to the stadium

The out-of-downtown value/resort play (~9 mi from the footprint) larger rooms and lower CMA-week rates than the downtown core, traded against a paid shuttle or ~20 min rideshare each way. See hotels_with_shuttle for its own ticketed downtown shuttle

Severe, well-documented surge during CMA Fest week: short-term-rental analysts put booked ADR at roughly $424-467/night in the downtown/East Nashville/Music Row zones a 22-35% premium over Nashville's ~$347 trailing average with some downtown listings above $700/night and multi-night minimums common. Book far ahead; East Nashville just across the river is a popular walkable-ish compromise near the stadium side of the footprint

No camping is offered at CMA Fest itself (downtown multi-venue fest), but Hipcamp lists hundreds of private-land camping/glamping options across the wider Nashville area (farm stays, glamping domes, vintage trailers, from roughly $10/night, average ~$45/night) as a budget alternative during the hotel surge week a realistic play for attendees with a car willing to drive in and park/rideshare from the fringe each day. Not walkable to any stage; factor in the no-stadium-parking reality downtown