Australia Tourism Minister Michael Healy has announced Australia’s premier international country music festival, CMC Rocks QLD, has been locked in for another two years.
The partnership, first secured in 2015 by Tourism and Events Queensland will see the popular event stay at Willowbank, Ipswich until 2026, with the 2025 dates just announced for 21-23 March.
CMC Rocks attracts the hottest global superstars with the 2024 event delivering just that with Grammy Award winner for Best Country Album, along with accolades from the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards for ‘Female Vocalist of the Year’ and ‘Album of The Year’, Lainey Wilson performing at the event this year, alongside Tyler Hubbard, Chris Young, Chase Rice and many more.
The festival, now in its 17th year, has featured artists such as Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Morgan Evans, The Chicks and the list goes on.
The high-profile artists and sell-out crowds that the event attracts are seeing Queensland claim the title of the ‘Australia’s home of country music’, with popular events like Savannah in the Round, the Groundwater Country Music Festival and the Gympie Music Muster also cementing that reputation for the state.
The event has been a runaway success since relocating to Queensland in 2015, growing visitor numbers each year with the 2024 event expected to attract 23,000 country music fans, injecting $14 million into the local economy.
“Queensland has boot-scooted our way to the top after securing another two-year deal with CMC Rocks QLD with the event going from strength to strength since relocating to Queensland in 2015.
“CMC Rocks is an iconic Queensland event with people travelling from all over Australia and the world to see the biggest country music stars and to kick up the dust with their mates.
“We fought hard against a southern poaching raid to keep this event in Queensland, it injects $14 million into the local economy and contributes to the state’s mega events calendar worth $850 million.” said Tourism Minister Michael Healy.
Tourism and Events Queensland CEO, Patricia O’Callaghan said “Queensland has fast become the home of country music in Australia, Lainey Wilson says it best – so buckle up because Queensland has a ‘heart like a truck’.
“We are focused on supercharging our events to grow our events calendar to $2 billion by 2032 and securing CMC Rocks for a further two years is a part of that pipeline of events.
“Events like this are key to the growth of our visitor economy with those 23,000 fans from CMC Rocks dispersing throughout the state for a Queensland holiday.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of Chugg Entertainment, Michael Chugg said, “We’re thrilled to be announcing the dates for next year’s event off the back of an incredibly successful 2024 festival. We know fans travel from far and wide to attend CMC Rocks each year, so we wanted to get the community excited and dates in the calendar for our 2025 instalment. Another stellar lineup is already in the pipeline, and we can’t wait to reveal it later this year”.
“The festival has grown so much in these ten years since we first made Willowbank our home, we are excited to return once again next year and we’re hard at work for making it the biggest and best CMC Rocks yet!” added Jeremy Dylan, Festival Director, Potts Entertainment.
