1. The Tourists. These are the people who will be walking around with fanny packs on and going in and out of Tootsie’s and the Wildhorse Saloon. Every.single.one.of.them. will be wearing shorts, plaid or a shirt that says NASHVILLE, and cowboy boots. They will surely gather at Riverfront Park and crowd the front of the stage. Most of them will be caught with a beer in hand, unaware that Nashville is not just hot, but humid as well. Chances are, the stories you hear of the man who passed out from heat exhaustion or the teenage girl who was rushed to Vanderbilt for dehydration are tourists. They pack the shuttle buses from the Opryland hotel and think if they walk around Downtown Nashville long enough they are going to run into Rayna James near the pedestrian bridge. News flash: she’s fictional. This group makes up more CMA attendees than any other.

2. The Rednecks. These are the people who know how hot the city is and dress accordingly: too-short shorts, camouflage or whichever SEC team they are supporting, and Old Navy flip flops. They are the ones crowding the beer stand and chugging Bud Light until they’re three beers in and claiming to be drunk. They are the ones with their blankets set up at Riverfront Park ready to be there all day, sometimes with kids, sometimes on a leash… They will surely go home before it’s time to head to Nissan Stadium for the big shows. These are the same people you see attend the events every year.

3. The Sorority Girls. These are the ones you will see all over your Facebook pages with photo captions stolen right from the lyrics of the songs they have never previously listened to. They dress up in their fancy summer dresses and cowboy boots and take pictures on the Pedestrian Bridge before the stadium shows at Nissan Stadium. They’re the ones with hard ciders in hand and four-day passes hanging around their necks, perfect curls falling down their backs. They will most surely be traveling in packs.

4. The Natives. These are the smart ones. They dress appropriately for the weather but equally so for the event. Water bottles are almost certainly in hand. These are the people who know where all the good parking lots in Nashville are and who come prepared to pay. They are usually found in the back of the crowd. It’s Nashville, there’s a chance to see most of these artists every other week anyway, and they’re just here for the experience. These are the people who know that when they see a country star walking around without security detail, they just nod their heads and let them be. We Nashvillians have respect for others.