Metro Nashville Police have widened the safety perimeter around CMA Fest 2026 with 72 Meridian Barriers, eight car gates and expanded buffer zones as the festival prepares to open Thursday in downtown Nashville. The new setup is meant to keep vehicles farther from the crowds that are expected to fill the city center this weekend.
About 400,000 people are expected downtown for the event, and the barriers are being rolled out now because the festival starts Thursday. Cody Osborne said crews can bring the barriers in on trailers from a storage yard and set them up in less than 45 minutes, giving police a faster way to close off streets when needed and to add more closures through the weekend if conditions change.
The equipment replaced the older tools the city had been using to block streets, a shift Metro made after the deadly truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Police tested the barriers last year, then expanded their use for this year’s festival. Osborne said the system adds protection for people heading to CMAs and for anyone behind the barriers at other events downtown, while also making it easier for crews to respond quickly.
Chris Bryant said the city had previously had to make do with whatever it could get its hands on, including tractor trailers and water-filled barriers. He called the new barriers an absolute gamechanger, especially in areas packed with fans where a vehicle would be able to do massive damage if it got through. Metro says there are no credible threats against CMA Fest, even with more than 300 extra officers downtown this weekend working alongside security staff.
The Nashville Department of Transportation is working with police to use the barriers until permanent retractable barriers can eventually be added on Broadway. For now, the temporary system gives Metro a way to widen the safety zone around one of the city’s busiest weekends, and the question left is not whether the festival is secure enough to start, but how soon Broadway gets the permanent fix officials say they still want.
