Thanks For The Music

The Academy of Country Music® has named Country Thunder West 'Festival of the Year' for the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards today. Industry Award, Studio Recording Award and the previously announced Special Award winners will be honored during the 12th ANNUAL ACM HONORS™, an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 53rd ACM Awards. ACM Honors will take place on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Tickets are available to the public at Ticketmaster.com.

“It’s a great honor to be named alongside the best in the industry,” said Troy Vollhoffer, CEO and Executive Producer of Country Thunder Music Festivals. "We celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Arizona festival this year, and are continuing to grow this amazing event that began in 1993. We are all very thankful to the Academy and the voters to receive this distinguished award.”

This year's festival in Arizona featured main stage performances from Cole Swindell, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Luke Bryan, Lauren Alaina, Tracy Lawrence, Big & Rich, Brett Young, Drew Baldridge, Cody Johnson, Michael Ray, Lindsay Ell, Morgan Wallen, Michael Ray and many more...

As previously announced, Lauren Alaina and Jon Pardi will co-host the 12th Annual ACM Honors.

The Academy of Country Music Industry Awards are voted on by all professional members of the Academy. The Studio Recording Awards are voted on by professional members of the Academy classified in the artist-entertainer/musician-bandleader-instrumentalist categories and the producer-engineer-studio manager sub-category.

Tickets to ACM Honors are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information on the ACM Awards and all ACM events, visit www.ACMcountry.com. You can like Academy of Country Music on Facebook or follow on Twitter at @ACMawards and Instagram @ACMAwards for more immediate updates.

For a complete list of past and present wins and nominations, please visit www.ACMcountry.com/winners to access the ACM Awards database.

To inquire about press credentials for ACM Honors, please contact Brooke Primero at brooke@acmcountry.com or Melissa Moldovan at melissa@acmcountry.com.

About ACM Honors™: ACM Honors™ is an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Special Awards, Studio Recording Awards, Industry Awards and Songwriter of the Year Award. The 12th Annual ACM Honors will take place Wednesday, August 22, 2018, at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. The show is executive produced by Pete Fisher, and written and produced by Lisa Lee. Tickets to ACM Honors are priced from $75 - $125 and are on sale to the general public at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman box office. For more information, visit www.ACMcountry.com.

About Country Thunder: Now in its 25th year, Country Thunder in Florence, Ariz., annually hosts the biggest names in Country music onstage and a sold-out audience of tens of thousands. The festival prides itself in offering something for fans of any age. Country Thunder not only has a consistently top-notch line-up with a mix of legendary, up-and-coming and contemporary artists, but also multiple stages showcasing the best local talent, Electric Thunder, which features DJs spinning country, red dirt and rock with an EDM/club twist, numerous food and specialty item vendors, helicopter and thrill rides—including a Zip Flyte and the Slingshot—and more.