C2C: Country to Country

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C2C: Country to Country
Genre	Country (Rock, Pop), Americana
Dates	16–17 March 2013 14–16 March 2014 7–8 March 2015 11–13 March 2016 10–12 March 2017 9–11 March 2018 8–10 March 2019 11–13 March 2022
Location(s)	London Dublin Glasgow Oslo Stockholm Amsterdam Berlin Sydney Brisbane
Years active	2013–2019 2022–
Capacity	25,000
Website	www.c2c-countrytocountry.com

C2C: Country to Country is a country music festival which has been held in Europe every year since 2013. It was first held in London on 16–17 March 2013.^[1] The festival was the first multi-day country music event in the United Kingdom, since the demise of the popular International Festival of Country Music, which was held at Wembley Arena and hosted by Mervyn Conn. The event was jointly developed by the O2 Arena and SJM Concerts, collaborating with the Country Music Association.^[1] In 2019 it had a capacity of 25,000.^[2]

In 2013, it was announced that the festival would come to the 3Arena in Dublin on 14–15 March 2014.^{[3][failed verification]}

The festival expanded even more into Europe, adding additional dates in Sweden and Norway in 2015, and the Netherlands, Germany and Australia in 2019.

As of the 2015 festival, pop-up radio station BBC Radio 2 Country was set up and runs over 4 days, including a live broadcast of the main stage performances.

Since 2016,^[4] the festival has ran over three nights.

In 2018, Milly Olykan received the Jo Walker-Meador International Award from the Country Music Association for her role in helping AEG concerts develop C2C. The award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual in advocating and supporting country music's marketing development in territories outside the United States.

Venues[]

The festival has been held at the O2 Arena since its inception.

C2C was upgraded to the SSE Hydro because of its larger capacity.

Festival facts[]

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• Since the inaugural event, the festival has been hosted in London by BBC Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris.
• Little Big Town are the first act to play the festival three times. After appearing at the inaugural 2013 event, they returned in 2016 and headlined in 2018. They were followed by Darius Rucker who performed in 2013, 2017 and headlined in 2019.
• Carrie Underwood was the first act to headline the festival twice (2013 & 2016), with both Brad Paisley and Zac Brown Band returning for a second time in 2017 (after previously headlining in 2014). Tim McGraw, who headlined in 2013, performed in a co-headlining slot alongside his wife Faith Hill in 2018. Lady Antebellum headlined in 2015 and 2019 while Eric Church headlined in 2016 and 2020.
• Other acts that have played the main stage over multiple years are Brantley Gilbert (2013 & 2015), Chris Young (2014 & 2017), Kip Moore (2015 & 2018), Kacey Musgraves (2016 & 2018), Chris Stapleton (2016 and 2019), Cam (2017 and 2019), Hunter Hayes (2017 and 2019) and Luke Combs (2018 and 2020). Kristian Bush, who played the inaugural 2013 festival, and Jennifer Nettles, who performed in 2017, appeared together as Sugarland in 2018.
• Jennifer Nettles was the first artist to play the main stage in consecutive years, appearing as a solo performer in 2017 and as part of Sugarland in 2018.
• Sam Hunt was the first artist to be upgraded from the Satellite Stage (in 2015) to the Main Stage (in 2016), followed by Maren Morris (who performed on the Yamaha Music Stage in 2016, and upgraded to the Main Stage in 2017) and then Drake White and Ashley McBryde (who played the Spotlight Stage in 2017 and 2018 respectively before playing the Main Stage in 2019). Old Dominion and Ashley Campbell were upgraded from the pop-up stages in 2016 to the Main Stage and Spotlight Stage respectively in 2018. Charles Esten performed on the Yamaha Music Stage in 2016 and played the Main Stage in 2020. Abby Anderson and Runaway June were promoted to the Main Stage in 2020 following their 2018 Spotlight Stage performances.
• In 2019, Catherine McGrath became the first UK country artist to perform on the main stage when she joined Hunter Hayes in London for their duet of "Don't Let Me Forget". In 2020, The Shires would have become the first UK act to perform a full main stage set, had the festival not been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The festival has hosted three members of the Country Music Hall of Fame: Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Emmylou Harris and fifteen members of the Grand Ole Opry: Luke Combs, Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Old Crow Medicine Show, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Dustin Lynch, Darius Rucker, Marty Stuart, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.

C2C: Country to Country 2013[]

The first C2C: Country to Country festival was announced in late November 2012, and was held on 16–17 March 2013 at the O2 Arena in London. Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood headlined the first and second nights respectively.

Headline acts in bold

London pop-up stages[]

C2C: Country to Country 2014[]

The second C2C: Country to Country festival was held on 15–16 March 2014 at the O2 Arena in London, and on 14–15 March 2014 at The 3Arena in Dublin; aside from Martina McBride, who only played the London show. The Zac Brown Band and Brad Paisley headlined the two nights.

Headline acts in bold

London pop-up stages[]

C2C: Country to Country 2015[]

The third C2C: Country to Country festival was held on 7–8 March 2015 at the O2 Arena in London and The 3Arena in Dublin. Extra dates were held in Stockholm and Oslo from 28 February to 1 March 2015 with very similar line-ups. Luke Bryan and Lady Antebellum headlined the two nights. Two events under the C2C banner were also held in Glasgow at the SEC Armadillo. Bryan, Florida Georgia Line and Lindsay Ell played the venue on 3 March, while Lady Antebellum, Kip Moore and Brandy Clark performed on 5 March.

The CMA Songwriters Series took place on 6 March and starred Kix Brooks, Brandy Clark, Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall and Sam Palladio.

Headline acts in bold

London pop-up stages[]

C2C: Country to Country 2016[]

The fourth C2C: Country to Country festival was held over three nights from 11 to 13 March 2016. Glasgow joined London and Dublin as the third venue. Carrie Underwood was the first headliner to be announced at all three venues, becoming the festival's first returning headliner following her appearance in 2013. The launch party was held at the Brooklyn Bowl inside the O2 Arena in London on 6 October 2015, the event was followed by a headlining Little Big Town concert. At the launch party it was announced that Miranda Lambert and Eric Church would join Carrie Underwood as the other headliners, although Miranda Lambert's involvement was leaked earlier that day by her own website, which also listed her three support acts on the bill. The full line up for the Yamaha Music Stage in London (formally named the Satellite Stage) was announced on 16 November 2015.^[5]

The CMA Songwriters series acted as the beginning of C2C, taking place on 9 March and featuring Shane McAnally, Charlie Worsham, Ashley Monroe, Lori McKenna and Charles Esten as well as a special surprise appearance from Miranda Lambert.^[6]

Headline acts in bold
Satellite Stage acts in italics

London pop-up stages[]

C2C: Country to Country 2017[]

The fifth C2C festival was announced at the conclusion of the previous year's festival. It ran over three nights from 10 to 12 March 2017. Early bird tickets for the o2 Arena in London went on sale at 9.00am on 18 March 2016.^[7] The line-up was announced in "waves", with the first wave being announced on 24 October 2016 via a launch event at the Brooklyn Bowl.^[8] The 3-day breakdown was released on 1 November, with Reba McEntire and Marty Stuart announced as the final two acts the following day at 4pm.^[9] Una Healy appeared on the Spotlight Stage in Dublin on 12 March, opening for Reba.

The remainder of the Yamaha Music Stage acts for London were announced on 24 January 2017.^[10]

The CMA Songwriters Series returned to kick off the festival on 9 March and featured Kristian Bush, Maren Morris, Mac McAnally, Drake White and Liz Rose.^[11]

Headline acts in bold
Satellite Stage acts in italics

Note: The set lists below are from the London show, with the exception of Cam's set (which is taken from her Glasgow performance).

London pop-up stages[]

^b Also part of the Bluebird Café at C2C event

C2C: Country to Country 2018[]

The sixth C2C festival was announced on the final day of the 2017 festival and ran over three nights from 9–11 March 2018.^[12] On 28 September 2017, Bob Harris announced that the first 2018 headliners would be Tim McGraw and Faith Hill^[13] (who would be bringing their Soul2Soul Tour to the UK for the very first time) on his BBC Radio 2 programme. Kelsea Ballerini was announced on 3 October^[14] by Ricky Ross on BBC Radio Scotland.^[15] On 5 October, Little Big Town were confirmed as the second headline act^[16] with majority of the line-up being revealed the following day on 6 October at the official launch event.^[17] On 16 October, Old Dominion were announced along with the three day breakdown. It was also revealed that Ashley Campbell would perform a special tribute to her father, Glen Campbell in London. On 23 November, Brett Young was confirmed for the main stage in Glasgow and Dublin as well as the Yamaha stage in London. For the first time, C2C announced that Glasgow would feature a Spotlight stage.^[18] On 8 December, Sugarland were announced as the final main stage act. Composed of C2C alumni Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, the duo reformed in 2017 and are billed as "special guests", their appearances was their first full-band shows in five years.^[19]

The CMA Songwriters Series held on 8 March featured Brett James, Natalie Hemby, Kip Moore, Nicolle Galyon and Luke Combs.^[20]

• Headline acts in bold, Satellite stage acts in italics

London pop-up stages[]

^b Part of the Bluebird Café at C2C event

C2C: Country to Country 2019[]

The seventh C2C festival was announced on the final day of the 2018 festival and ran over three nights from 8–10 March 2019. The line-up was announced on 22 October 2018 during the CMA songwriters tour at Shepherd's Bush Empire, with tickets going on sale on 26 October 2018.^[22][23] On 30 October 2018, C2C announced that a one night C2C would take place at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, and a two night festival in Berlin at the Verti Music Hall. Additionally, two events under the C2C banner would take place in Australia, albeit with a different line-up to the rest of the events held in 2019. Midland, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Paslay, RaeLynn, Blanco Brown, The McClymonts and headliner Tim McGraw are set to perform in Sydney and Brisbane on 28 and 29 September respectively.^[24]

The CMA Songwriters Series was held on 7 March 2019 and featured Cam, Jimmie Allen, Laura Veltz, Ross Copperman and Travis Denning.^[25]

• Headline acts in bold, Satellite stage acts in italics

London pop-up stages[]

^b Also part of the Bluebird Café at C2C event

C2C: Country to Country 2020/21[]

The eighth consecutive C2C festival was announced during the final day of the 2019 edition, and was planned to have run over three nights from 13 to 15 March 2020 in London, Glasgow and Dublin. C2C was also planned to have returned to Berlin from 6–8 March, the Netherlands between 7 and 8 March and Australia at an unspecified date. The line-up was at the official launch event on 21 October 2019 at Cadogan Hall during the Introducing Nashville concert featuring performances by Danielle Bradbery, Chris Lane, Travis Denning and Rachel Wammack.^[26][27] Old Dominion were originally scheduled to perform but withdrew on 6 March 2020 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and they were replaced by The Shires who were to be the first UK-grown country act to perform on the main stage.^[28]

The CMA Songwriters Series was set to feature Tenille Townes, Phil Barton, Caylee Hammack, Niko Moon and Jaren Johnston. The original line-up also included Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna; however, they withdrew on 6 March.^[29] The show was cancelled on 12 March. The COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on all scheduled concerts and festivals around the world. As concerns over the pandemic worsened and several countries began implementing travel restrictions, the 2020 Country to Country festival was cancelled. The main stage was due to feature Eric Church, Darius Rucker and Luke Combs as headliners with Tanya Tucker, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Cadillac Three, Charles Esten, Brett Young, Runaway June, Jordan Davis, Tenille Townes, Eric Paslay and Abby Anderson also performing.^[30]

The 2021 edition of C2C was also cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, with the new dates for 2022 being announced as 11–13 March.^[31]

C2C: Country to Country 2022[]

After two years of cancellation, the initial lineup for the eight C2C festival was announced on 13 September 2021.^[32] Luke Combs and Darius Rucker return as headliners after previously being booked for the 2020 festival and Miranda Lambert returns to headline for the second time, replacing Eric Church who has American tour dates scheduled that clash with the dates of C2C 2022. Brett Young and Runaway June also remain in the lineup from the cancelled 2020 event. On December 15, Priscilla Block, Tiera and Morgan Wade were announced as the Introducing Nashville artists.^[33]

• Headline acts in bold, Satellite stage acts in italics

See also[]

• List of country music festivals
• List of folk festivals

References[]