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Grab your Stetsons! How country music is taking over the UK

The Guardian UK Friday 26 June 2026, 14:38 UTC By Katie Hawthorne 1 min read
Key Points

With country music festival attendances soaring and US artists selling out tours, are British and Irish audiences ready for “the full Southern experience”? “There’s a certain magic with country music in the UK right now,” says Anna-Sophie Mertens, smiling in hi-vis from the build at State Fayre, the UK’s newest festival for country fans. It is located in Chelmsford but styled like the American South – think clapboard, rusted metal and water points disguised as retro gas stations – and this...

With country music festival attendances soaring and US artists selling out tours, are British and Irish audiences ready for “the full Southern experience”?

“There’s a certain magic with country music in the UK right now,” says Anna-Sophie Mertens, smiling in hi-vis from the build at State Fayre, the UK’s newest festival for country fans. It is located in Chelmsford but styled like the American South – think clapboard, rusted metal and water points disguised as retro gas stations – and this weekend, the gates will open to 50,000 country devotees.

Country is the UK’s fastest-growing genre, according to data from the Country Music Association (CMA), and has been for three years in a row. Until 2023, UK tastes leaned towards legacy acts, but now modern megastars such as Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Cowboy Carter-era Beyoncé have taken the wheel, reflecting a changing of the guard.

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UK (LOCATION) US (LOCATION) British (ORG) Irish (ORG) Southern (ORG) Anna-Sophie Mertens (PERSON) State Fayre (LOCATION) Chelmsford (LOCATION) American (ORG) South (LOCATION) the Country Music Association (ORG) CMA (ORG) Morgan Wallen (ORG) Luke Combs (PERSON) Cowboy Carter-era (PERSON)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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