MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)-CCMF was less than a month ago and plans are already being made for the third annual festival. Bob Durkin said he couldn’t be more pleased with this year’s turnout. Last year there were around 20,000 people and this year the event grew to 25,000. Next year he said he hopes for around 30,000.
Country music, the beach and cold drinks brought people from all over the world to Myrtle Beach.
“We talked to city council and we had people come from every state in the country and nine different countries,” said Bob Durkin, CCMF president.
Some even traveled far to hear the accent of their hometown hero.
“I met two gentlemen that came from Australia and they came and one of the main reasons was to see Keith Urban,” said Mayor John Rhodes.
It is too early just yet to know how much money the festival brought in to the city last month but Durkin says the event generated more than 20-million dollars last year.
“We imagine since we went to 20,000 to 25,000 that number is going to go up. We have talked to people at hotels and restaurants and they said they were even busier than last year,” said Durkin.
CCMF 2017 is still 11 months away but Durkin says people won’t forget or stop talking about this year’s turn out.
“This year we are going to try to get more exposure to the festival. And more exposure to Myrtle Beach. Things like Tim McGraw wearing a tank top that said Myrtle Beach and that picture from Friday night with that sky wheel and Ocean Boulevard, all those iconic things will hopefully get people more excited about coming next year,” said Durkin.
The date for next year’s event is June 9th-11th. Organizers expect to make an artist announcement some time in the middle of July.
