It’s been over a week since Country 2 Country (C2C) Festival 2024 took place. A week and we have still not fully recovered – recovered in the sense of exhaustion and in the sense of withdrawal symptoms.

No matter how much of a good time you have at C2C Festival, you always look back on what you didn’t get a chance to do as much as looking back happily on what you did get to do. That’s part of the magic of C2C Festival – there are just too many good artists to see and things to do that you simply cannot do it all. This is where Hermione’s time-turner would come in good use.

It’s a beautiful and wonderful feeling when you first set foot on the outskirts of the O2 Arena for C2C Festival. Every single person that has arrived at the same time as you feels it too. You aren’t friends, you don’t know each other, in fact you have never even laid eyes upon each other before but you all share that same feeling that no other genre can make you feel! It’s somewhat indescribable. I guess you could say it’s like Christmas morning as a child.

Country 2 Country (C2C) Festival is a community. Some of us have been there every year since the very start (2013) and for some, 2024 was their first year but whether you’re a C2C Festival OG or not, everyone belongs and everyone is part of the community. If you go alone, you won’t be alone for long. That shared love of a song will bond you, that cheer for an artist will make you country music friends for life, that band t-shirt will spark up a conversation and before you know it, you’ve already arranged to go to the next gig together.

It’s the small things that make it so homely. The already mentioned t-shirts fans are wearing of artists you share a love for, the stetsons, the cowboy boots and the fact that for three days we, the UK have built our own Nashville! Just looking around there is a little bit of Nashville everywhere!

C2C Festival has grown so much from its very first year and it continues to grow each year! With stages full of live music everywhere from 10am to 11pm (and beyond if you count the after parties) there is just so much to enjoy!

Music is blaring from every corner of the O2, the bars, the shops, the stages and whether it’s a familiar artist or not, it is a familiar sound that will draw you in and captivate you!

It’s the Town Square and all its offerings that lure you in and you can’t help but be excited for the country styled fashions, food and booze that’s available! This is the weekend that people really treat themselves and go all out! This year you could get your nails done, get a tattoo, buy jewellery, clothing, get customised Yeti products and more! Line dancing was on the list this year although not at the town square but inside The Wayside Stage which also had a record store. There you would find C2C exclusives including signed items.

There are so many stages to choose from at C2C Festival. Most you have to be a weekend ticket holder to attend but some, such as The Big Entrance Stage and Icon stage, anyone can enjoy and these stages are filled with some of country music’s finest, not just unknowns but even those unknowns become knowns after C2C Weekend!

The Barrelhouse inside the Town Square is a massive improvement from previous years. Set inside a separate venue including a bar, which is located inside the Town Square (outside the O2 Arena itself) the Barrelhouse makes for so much more room. In the past the Town Square stage as it was called would make it very difficult for fans to see an act due to how busy it got and the audience would fill out into where all the stall holders were which made it difficult for customers and stall holders alike.

The quality of artists playing is insane! It isn’t all about the big names, in fact for us, we usually find our highlights come from the acts on the smaller stages.

Take Tigirlily Gold for example who played such an epic performance on the ICON stage last year that they came back for 2024 and were on the Spotlight Stage inside the Arena as well as the BBC Radio 2 Stage and more! Soon, this lovely duo will be on the main stage. That’s the impact of playing this festival! Every year there is at least one act who makes such an impression that they come back due to high demand. As well as Tigiliy Gold, Drake Milligan found his second home here last year and not only came back to play the main stage but has almost sold out his own headline tour entirely in July!

Many artists have found that their careers pretty much began at C2C Festival such as Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde and Luke Combs. Many have said C2C is the first place people have sung their songs back to them!

This year there were so many favourites among the fans that it’s actually quite difficult to say which artists will be the ones to come back again with a huge following. For us personally, we found a new love for artists such as Abbey Cone, Lola Kirke, Colbie Caillat, Angel White. Lakeview, Simeon Hammond Dallas, Jordan Harvey and Karley Scott Collins.

Colbie Caillat is already a household name since her album Coco back in 2007 but she has definitely made her mark on the UK country community now! We are so glad that she is back for The Long Road Festival. Lola Kirke will also be at The Long Road which we can’t wait for! Bringing the traditional sounds of country music to C2C Festival and blending them with a modern, fun and at times comedic twist, Kirke was for us (and many I’m sure), an absolute highlight of the entire weekend. Abbey Cone gained a huge fanbase at C2C with her delicate vocals and sweet sounding tunes. We caught her as part of the Song Suffragettes with Sophia Scott and Simeon Hammond Dallas which was set up like a songwriters session in All Bar One and was an absolute treasure of an experience. These songwriting sessions are always the best shows and a rare setting. The Bluebird sessions across the weekend which is set up in The Blue Room to recreate The Bluebird in Nashville are also an experience you won’t get again with artists showcasing the stories behind their songs in an intimate setting. This is the first year we didn’t attend the Bluebird sessions which is a shame but again, schedules.

C2C are also starting to host more fan club parties like CMA Fest do. I love these events as they are always so special. Tigirlily Gold did one this year where they played an acoustic set and also played a sneak peak of new music to fans. After their performance they gave a quick q & a followed by a meet and greet!

As we didn’t get to see everyone due to time, we have heard many people scream and shout about Hannah Dasher, Fancy Hagood and of course Chapel Hart!!!!

It’s with great regret that we didn’t see all of those but schedules do make it hard!

Chapel Hart will no doubt be back further up the billing one year! They are also returning to The Long Road Festival this year for our fix. Their sets are always so energetic and engaging and no one puts on a party quite like they do! Hannah Dasher has to come back and bring her traditional stylings and wonderfully unique vocals back to the UK.

The main stage is always wonderfully atmospheric and it feels like being in the heart of Nashville celebrating some of country music’s biggest names. The passion and appreciation the fans have for each artist reflects on the artists on stage and you feel a real sense of joy and emotion that is like no other event. I for one am a fan of having an allocated seat rather than fighting for a good spot at the front. This is likely due to age now and not being the young, energetic person that I used to be. It’s great to sit and stand whenever I feel like it and just soak every moment in! We really enjoyed Jake Owen in particular as had been waiting what seemed like a lifetime to have him over here! Brothers Osborne never disappoint and they are undoubtedly headliners in their own right and hopefully will return for that slot in the not too distant future.

I always feel the artists give a little more when they play here in the UK. It’s the gratitude they feel from our attentiveness and knowledge of each song they perform whether that be an album track or a single. The line up is always brilliant even if it is repetitive artists.

Brad Paisley is one artist in particular who has played the O2 a few times now and we will never tire of him! His shows are always masterful and his hit list (songs that is) is so large that there will never be a set list that you won’t enjoy! Paisley is part of the UK family! He is an honorary brit!

It’s hard to secure an entirely new line up each year. The costs that come with running a festival and having big names overseas is incredibly difficult. Every festival is suffering at the moment with many closing their gates for good!

Some country acts also have no plans to leave the US and others can sell out the O2 on their own. Take Luke Combs for example who opened up the C2C main stage back in 2018 and then headlined in 2022. He has since sold out the O2 on his own! Artists like Morgan Wallen have gone on to book BST Hyde Park.

Having The Spotlight Stage makes it even more of a special event as you always get well established artists on that stage. It’s sad they only have ten minutes each but some of these acts come back to play the main stage like Maren Morris did and many more! The only issue with having the Spotlight Stage is if you want to go and get food and drink, you are likely to miss one or two acts but it’s such a wonderful way to fill the gap between main stage acts and to keep the atmosphere alive. It can be too easy to lose the enthusiasm when waiting ages for an acts stage set up to be ready!

We miss C2C Festival already. It’s a really tiring weekend and it does take a lot out of us but it is definitely worth it! I almost forget just how much I love it until it’s over again. Even being in any number of the hotels surrounding the O2 is wonderful in its atmosphere as so many attendees will be at the same hotel! Everything about it is a great feeling!

Bring on 2025! Early Bird Tickets Can be bought here