I have been coming to this Wisconsin country music festival since 2012. Obviously if it was a lousy time I would not keep coming back, but I have a slightly different viewpoint this year as I hauled in an RV and camped out for all 5 days instead of in a tent. This changes the dynamic of being at CUSA significantly, as it does any music festival. Since there are about a million things that can be said about such a huge festival, I will break this review down to a list of pros and cons, while at the same time adding in some changes from years past to present. Cons- -First and foremost, price. It's one of the more expensive country music festivals in the entire midwest. -As other have pointed out, MUD! If you get any rain at all you are going to be drowning in it, and the venue staff does a poof job of mitigating this problem. I had 3 outfits that were a candidate for the trashcan. -Parking, safety bands, alcohol bands, and other random fees are a pretty transparent attempt by management to price gouge as much as humanly possible. lame. I realize the logistics of an event of this size is considerable, but get real! -Not being able to bring in food and being forced to order from insanely overpriced vendors. Also places to fill a water bottle that is brought in are few and far between. -Most of the midway style games from years past are now noticeably absent. This leaves little to do between acts except drink and vegetate. -The campsites cut off shore power for several hours a day, and on top of that the use of generators is also restricted. Thus, no access to power that you are paying a hefty premium for. Even during the times it's on usage limits are in place. -There was several incidents this year of significant blunders for sound. Like, for example, the lead vocals mic going dead for half a song or more. Pros- -The lineup. This is without a doubt the best assortment of Country artists anywhere in the midwest and arguably in the entire US. -The pit. This is the first year they have had one, and if you pony up the cash for it you will be so close to the stage that it makes for an insanely good time. -Bonding. Over in the campsites its hard not to develop fast friendships with people who are also there to party and jam out to music. I have new friends from all over the US I have met at this event. -They announced that starting in 2019 CUSA will now be 3 instead of 5 days. This is a positive development, as 5 days is just rough to be in the middle of a cornfield camping out, and i'st a lot of time to take off work. -The bartenders do not skimp on drinks. Granted they still cost a fortune, but they load them up on the booze. You are able to bring the reusable cups from past years to get them filled. Overall, how much fun you have and how important it is for you to attend CUSA depends a great deal on your personal and financial situation. You can easily be out 2 grand or more if you plan to camp out and when you add in all the extras. is it an absolute blast that you are sure to enjoy? Yup, it sure is. If you are a fan of the genera you will be in heaven, but heaven comes at a very steep price. read more

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I hate country music. Or, at least, I thought I did until my country-loving boyfriend dragged me to Country USA in 2011. PROS: -Amazing selection of bands. Obviously, this is THE reason to come to a music festival like this. My impression of country music was totally turned on its head based listening to these incredibly talented, hip country bands. "Need You Now" was really popular back then, so I thought it was the coolest thing to hear Lady Antebellum perform that live. -Good state fair-type food. I'm a health conscious eater, but I enjoyed indulging in a fried Snickers bar, trying a cream puff, and some pizza. Not bad, Country USA! -Spontaneous chanting of "GO PACK GO." I'm an outsider from Chicago, but I am kind of in love with the special dedication Wisconsinites have for the Packers. It's endearing. CONS: -THE MUD. Oh, my goodness, the mud. It was ridiculous. I wore flip flops the first day and, after almost breaking them because they were stuck in the mud, I brought rain boots for the rest of the time. It was really dirty, though. Most people stumbled and sloshed around barefoot. -Drunk people. Almost everyone there was wasted and I felt uncomfortable with kids stuck there with their parents. "Do these drunk people think they're driving home tonight? Or are they camping there?" I thought each day. -Highway 41. I'm not going to lie, I felt unsafe in the (extremely crowded) parking lot as we left one night because everyone seemed to be drunk. Not long after we finally got out and onto the Highway 41, the traffic stopped. It turns out someone had been struck and killed. We waited until 3:30 AM before we could leave. 3 stars because someone DIED. I know that you can only control drunken people's stupidity so much (I'm not saying that was necessarily the case for the guy who tried to run across the highway, but context clues), but I think the Festival should find some sort of solution. For example, free shuttling or something. Just SOMETHING. I don't care if the prices are higher. Safety of concert-goers should always come first. 5 stars for music and 1 star for security/safety. I want to totally love Country USA, but I would need to know that it will be safe for me to leave this place at night and not get hit by a drunk driver or have a drunk person dart in front of the car. All that being said, thank you, Country USA, for making a country music lover out of me! read more

Even though we're not the biggest country music fans, hubby and I agreed to accompany our neighbors to Country USA for a Friday night out. Having never attended this festival, we had no idea how much cost was involved (note to self: head to the internet and do some research before agreeing to go someplace). First of all, there's the parking. When you get there, you have a choice of either the standard parking (not sure how much that was) or the VIP parking, which is supposed to help you exit out of the festival faster (more on that in a bit). We ended up paying $30 for the VIP parking. Once you get in there, there's the line for the wristbands that you need to purchase in order to consume alcohol. $3 a pop. Then, the real sticker shock comes into play at the ticket window. After taxes and other fees, the event tickets came to $88 EACH! I just about fell over. After all of that, we decided that we needed a cocktail. So we made our way over to the tent where those were being served. The only way to purchase a cocktail is to get it in one of their big, plastic souvenir cups. $16. You would think the refills would be $8, maybe $9. Nope. $13. The food itself wasn't bad. Hubby and I both got the cheeseburger basket, which came with fries. $10 each. I give Country USA credit for being able to attract big name acts. On the night we were there, the headliners were Dustin Lynch and Luke Bryan. Both of them put on great performances. A suggestion for the folks in charge of this event: please lay down more (lots more) gravel and/or woodchips throughout the grounds. It was not fun walking through giant mud pits, and having to clean all the mud off of my shoes the next day was a real pain. As I stated earlier, the VIP parking that we paid for was supposed to get us out of the parking lot faster than those who paid for regular parking. Well, that didn't happen. It still took us at least 20-30 min before we got to the main road to exit. In summary: the entertainment factor is great, but the price factor is not. You'll have to decide for yourself if it's worth the cost. read more

Best country music festival ever! I would highly recommend anyone come here from anywhere in the country. Talk about a once and a lifetime opportunity. They have great performers, great music and just an amazing festival. read more

Country USA - Having fun in the campgrounds! Hoping to get some backstage passes! #dukeaholic - Festivals Near Me - Oshkosh, Wisconsin

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Not prepared for the weather at all. If they put gravel or class v down on the roads they would be ok but they are too greedy to pay for it. How long have they been doing this, they should have learned by now. read more

Camping prices are outrageous, it takes forever to get in and then it is one big mud hole. Everyone is getting stuck and having to be pushed out (by other people who paid to camp in this mess). With the amount of people they have camping and the high price they charge, they need to pump some money into actual gravel for the roads. Paying to drive and camp in this mud is ridiculous!!!! DON'T DO IT!!!!! The only way to get them to do some basic maintenance is to stop paying for this mess-it ruins the entire experience. read more