C2C: Cowboy hats out in force for country music festival

C2C is the largest country music festival outside of the USA

Pointed boots and cowboy hats will be on display this weekend as thousands of country music fans descend on Belfast.

C2C: Country to Country festival is an annual event that sees top American artists perform for European audiences.

Established in 2013, C2C has grown into the biggest country music festival outside of the USA.

This is the first time the festival has been staged in Northern Ireland with a three-day run at the SSE Arena.

In a surprise move for some fans, the Irish leg of the touring festival was relocated to Belfast after being held in Dublin's 3Arena since 2014.

Simultaneous C2C festivals are being held in London and Glasgow after earlier events were staged in Rotterdam and Berlin last weekend.

The Belfast shows began on Friday evening with a headline set from Old Dominion, a five-piece band from Nashville, that Rolling Stone magazine called "one of mainstream country music's most popular live groups".

'It's become a monster'

For many fans, this year's big draw is 14-time Country Music Association (CMA) and three-time Grammy award-winning country music artist Brad Paisley who will close the festival - which he describes as his "favourite gig ever" - on Sunday evening.

"This is such an amazing event," the singer told Absolute Radio earlier this week.

Brad Paisley took to the C2C stage in Berlin last weekend

"It's just become a monster, these towns over there [in Europe]... They're just so hungry for country music," Paisley said.

"It's interesting how receptive you guys are to this... They want the fantasy of it," he added.

Further performances from the likes of Kane Brown, Carly Pearce and Jake Owen are expected over the course of the weekend.

'It's trendy to like country'

Emma Fitzgerald, aged 28 from Greenisland, will be attending the festival with her cousin on Saturday evening and is looking forward to seeing Kane Brown "with his lovely deep voice".

She previously travelled to Amsterdam to see US performer Luke Combs during his stint on the C2C tour circuit in 2020.

Emma says younger Northern Ireland audiences are embracing American country music

"It feels great, it's so good for our community, I know its going to have a great turnout," she told BBC News NI ahead of the show.

Emma said the Belfast festival is more affordable than previous C2C events in Dublin with less travel involved.

American country music is "definitely getting more popular", she said.

"It's a bit more trendy, on the internet, Irish country [music] is still a bit old-fashioned... There will be more young people attending than there used to be."

'Best year yet for country music'

Saturday's event sees the CMA's international touring series, Introducing Nashville, return to the main stage for a third year.

The slot provides a platform for international audiences to enjoy emerging country music talent with Conner Smith, Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins taking to the stage for a Nashville-style, acoustic songwriters round.

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"From ticket sales to streaming, country music has seen its best year yet in the UK and C2C has been a key element to that success," said CMA's Milly Olykan.

"The festival continues to provide opportunities for fans to discover new artists, while also giving more established Nashville artists international exposure and profile. We are incredibly proud to continue to partner with C2C."

Kentucky-born Grammy winner Carly Pearce is among Saturday's performers

BBC Radio 2 has been the official broadcast partner for the C2C music festival since its launch in 2013.

Radio Ulster's Connor Phillips will be broadcasting live on Radio 2 from Belfast from 15:00-21:00 GMT on Saturday 9 March and 20:00-22:00 on Sunday 10 March.

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Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Phillips said he was "delighted" to be making his Radio 2 presenting debut during the festival.

"Northern Ireland has an incredible relationship with country music and I'm so excited to be able to share it with Radio 2 listeners. The stage shows are going to be epic and the radio shows are going to be even better," he added.