Country Splash Cabo Fest With Riley Green, Jon Pardi and More Combines Song, Sand & Surf: 7 Best Moments

When Country Splash Cabo co-founder Robert Fried first talked to Billboard about launching the destination festival in Cabo San Lucas, he said, “One of the core concepts [is] to be the opposite of a major field festival. The intent is to be up close and personal where you can see your favorite country artists from 100 feet away instead of watching on an LED screen.” 

Mission accomplished.

The first (hopefully) annual event took place Sept. 4-6. Country Splash bought out the 350-room/suite Paradisus Cabo San Lucas, an all-inclusive luxury beachfront resort, as well as made deals with surrounding hotels to create a peak destination musical experience.  

With headliners Tucker Wetmore, Jon Pardi and Riley Green, the poolside festival also featured an undercard that included such developing talent as Jacob Hackworth, Blake Whiten, Zach John King and Lauren Watkins. Rounding out the bill were Dasha, LoCash and Cameron Whitcomb, who were among the best received acts of the event.

The live acts started right after sundown. The temperature was still sweltering — it was 88 degrees with 67% humidity at 9:15 p.m. Saturday night — but at least it no longer felt like 106 degrees as it had earlier in the day, in the blistering sun. The heat had main character energy in virtually every act’s set: At one point, Dasha declared, “I’ve never had so much sweat drop down my body before.”

Fried built the event around intimacy and capped attendance at 3,000 people this year (potentially expanding to 5,000 attendees for future years), making it about half the size of Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa in Cancun. Despite having to the navigate around the massive pool (as if that’s a negative), it never felt overcrowded, and there was always ease of movement between the stage, the vendor stands and bars. The only thing occasionally blocking sightlines were the palm trees. There was even a wellness element that included a yoga class with Diplo on Saturday.

The festival is among the growing number of music events highlighting American country music in Mexico, catering to tourists and Mexicans alike as the genre’s popularity swells in the country. Country Splash may be the most luxe offering: All-inclusive suites at the Paradisus went for as high as $10,000 for four nights, but there were also one-day general admission passes available for as low as $199, according to the event’s website.

Here are the highlights from the inaugural year.