"I think what my band and I have talked about is to come out swinging and don't stop swinging until we exit the stage," Cody Johnson told on The Red Carpet.
Thousands of fans packed dozens of stages to see their favorite country stars and even discover some new favorites!
"Seeing them relate to the songs and just scream their favorite lyric at the top of their lungs, it's my favorite thing in the world," said Tucker Wetmore.
Hosting the ABC special are "Good Morning America's" Lara Spencer along with country music sensation Riley Green.
"I'm brand new, so I'm just getting started. I haven't messed anything up yet," said Green when On The Red Carpet spoke with him backstage.
"CMA Fest is a whole different bag of tricks," added Spencer. "My day job on 'GMA' looks nothing like this."
Fans at CMA Fest were treated to special surprise collaborations, like Russell Dickerson and Fetty Wap, who performed their song, "BOOTS."
Hip-hop's infusion with country music was all over CMA Fest this year. Nappy Roots, who performed at the Fest, told On The Red Carpet they believe there are a lot of similarities between the two genres. Waka Flocka Flame agreed.
"Everybody got their own genres, but now everybody's getting grown," he said. "And they're just like man you know something, it's time to take it to a new level. And I think that's what's happening is modernizing what they call country, what they call hip-hop."
CMA Fest was feeling a little nostalgic as well, and showcased artists and songs that were a big hit in the 1990s, like Tim McGraw's "I Like It, I Love It" and Deanna Carter's "Strawberry Wine."
On The Red Carpet also paid a visit to the "Camp Rock 3" activation along fan alley, and got an exclusive invite to the "American Idol" auditions that took place at CMA Fest.
"Thirty-three percent of our top 10 came from this day at CMA Fest last year, which is really exciting," said executive producer and showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick.
Watch the full episode of "On The Red Carpet Presents: CMA Fest" in the video player above.
And tune into "CMA Fest Presented by SoFi" on Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 8 p.m. EST/ 7 p.m. CST on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.