Fan Fair, country music's annual gathering that features concerts, fan club events, autograph signings and other attractions, will take place at Nashville's Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 2000. The event's immediate future had been in doubt because of declining ticket sales, waning participation by top artists, and the need for improvements at the aging fairgrounds that have been home to the event since 1982.

The 29th Annual International Country Music Fan Fair will take place June 12-16, according to a press release issued Thursday (11/11) by the Country Music Association, which co-sponsors the event with the Grand Ole Opry.

''The Fan Fair committee is evaluating the future of the event including the location,'' CMA Executive Director Ed Benson said in a statement. ''But we now know that it will remain at the Fairgrounds for next year. We are looking at different options to make the event even better and to enhance its value for the fans, the artists and other stakeholders.''

Benson added that the Fan Fair committee will use the next several months to explore future options for the event, which include the exploration of alternate sites in downtown Nashville and the feeling-out of interest expressed by other cities. Among the cities that are reportedly interested in hosting the event are Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., and Santa Barbara, Calif.

Nashville is believed to have the inside track on retaining the event, which could spread out among a variety of downtown venues including Nashville Arena, the convention center, Ryman Auditorium, and the new stadium of the NFL's Tennessee Titans.

The local fair board, which is facing financial troubles, recently presented a plan to invest $5 million into improvements to the fairgrounds. But Fan Fair organizers--who had alreadly seen the plan dwindle from a $27 million project introduced in 1997 to a $15 million proposal floated earlier this year--weren't impressed.

Attendance at 1999's Fan Fair was 22,000, according to the CMA, which cites Nashville Chamber of Commerce statistics that estimate the event's economic impact on the city for the year at $11.4 million.

For many years, the event didn't require extensive advertising muscle and the 24,000 Fan Fair tickets sold out well in advance. But organizers previously packaged Fan Fair passes with admission to the Opryland theme park, which closed in 1997 to make way for a shopping mall.

In 1998, Fan Fair fell just short of a sell-out. This year, advance ticket sales stalled early, forcing organizers to initiate a large, late marketing push for the event.

This year's Fan Fair included about 100 artists, 30 hours of live entertainment, and more than 150 exhibit hall booths. But as Benson told Nashville newspaper The Tennesseean, three record labels and 12 artists had pulled their booths from the exhibit halls since last year, resulting in much smaller crowds. Among the booths reportedly absent from the exhibit halls were those of top stars like Garth Brooks [ tickets ], Reba McEntire [ tickets ] and Trisha Yearwood [ tickets ]--all artists who had been present in past years.

Organizers have worried that declining participation by artists could be the death of Fan Fair, which built its franchise by providing fans with up-close access to top stars. They are reportedly trying to find ways to regain the interest of the artists and labels that have drifted away.