This year will be our 39th NZ Sun City Country Music Awards! We were so pleased with our 2025 competition and we are gearing up to make 2026 the best yet.

Once again this year we are affiliated with the New Zealand Country Music Association, allowing our overall winners of each age group to compete at the NZCMA Entertainer of the Year competition in 2027!

We hold our competition in Club Waimea which is located in Richmond, Nelson. It has a large carpark and plenty of accommodation available in the area. The Nelson Country Music Club holds their fortnightly club nights at Club Waimea so we are grateful to be able to use the facility. There is food and drink available all weekend also.

On Friday, we have a registration evening followed by a Country Showcase which features our judges for the weekend. Auditions then begin Saturday morning, and continuing on Saturday night with the Country Rock sections, and continues on Sunday morning. The judges select their finalists in each section which then go on to compete in the Finals Showcase. We also have a Veteran Finals Showcase on the Sunday afternoon which features some special guests.