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 10–12 March 2023 8–10 March 2024
C2C: Country to Country is a country music festival that 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 run 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.
Since the inaugural event, the festival has been hosted in London by BBC Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris.
Carrie Underwood was the first act to headline the festival twice (2013 & 2016).
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 and Kip Moore who appeared for the third time in 2022. Lady A and Zac Brown Band marked their third appearances in 2023, with Brad Paisley headlining for the third time in 2024.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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 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]
An impromptu gathering was organised by Paul McInnes and compatriot Neil Byrnes, but unfortunately it was a Covid super spreader event.
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]
The C2C festival in Berlin and Amsterdam did take place during the weekend of 7 and 8 march. Though Old Dominion cancelled their performance due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
After two years of cancellation, the initial lineup for the eighth 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 whose American tour dates clashed with the 2022 festival. Brett Young and Runaway June also remained in the lineup from the cancelled 2020 event, though Runaway June later cancelled due to a pregnancy within the group and were replaced by Tenille Townes. On December 15, Priscilla Block, Tiera Kennedy and Morgan Wade were announced as the Introducing Nashville artists.[33] The pop-up acts were announced on 14 February.[34]Charles Kelley from Lady A (with Russell Dickerson) and Ed Sheeran (with Luke Combs) both made guest appearances at the London shows.
Unfortunately, the 2022 edition of the festival was marred by a serious security event on the Sunday evening. A large group of ticketless people from the travelling community breached security to make their way into the arena. They made for the stage and removed people from their seats by way of intimidation and verbal and physical assaults. Due to this, and also the fact that the organisers have never apologised or publicly acknowledged the incident, several people have vowed never to return to the festival.
London – 11 March Glasgow – 12 March Dublin – 13 March
Dublin – 11 March London – 12 March Glasgow – 13 March
Glasgow – 11 March Dublin – 12 March London – 13 March
The 2023 lineup was announced on 17 October 2022 at an official launch event at Bush Hall which featured performances from Ben Earle and Catherine McGrath.[35] On 5 December 2022, Morgan Evans and the Introducing Nashville artists (Tyler Braden, Caylee Hammack and Alana Springsteen) were revealed as the final main stage artists and the London Spotlight Stage artists were also announced.[36] The rest of the lineup was revealed on 30 January 2023.[37] The CMA Songwriter's event, which will took place on 9 March, featured Nate Smith, Lainey Wilson and Dalton Dover. Elvie Shane was originally scheduled to appear at the festival but was unable to attend due to a broken leg. Niall Horan made a guest appearance at the London show.
London – 10 March Glasgow – 11 March Dublin – 12 March
Dublin – 10 March London – 11 March Glasgow – 12 March
Glasgow – 10 March Dublin – 11 March London – 12 March
Country to Country will return on 8–10 March 2024. The festival will be held in Belfast for the first time this year, after being held in Dublin since 2014.[38] The festival will also return to Berlin and The Netherlands for the first time since 2019. The main stage acts were announced on 16 October 2023.[39]
