Country To Country Festival has announced a new partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library UK, bringing together Europe’s biggest country music festival and one of Dolly Parton’s most enduring charitable legacies.
Announced to mark Give Like Dolly Day on 25 September, the partnership will see a fan contribution added to every ticket sold for C2C 2027, with the proceeds going directly to the Imagination Library and its work providing free books to young children.
£1 will be added to every C2C 2027 day ticket and £2 to every weekend ticket, with the money supporting the programme’s mission to provide children from birth to the age of five with a free, age-appropriate book every month.
The partnership could provide significant support for the charity. C2C 2027 takes place from 12 to 14 March at The O2 in London, the OVO Hydro in Glasgow and Manchester’s AO Arena, with almost 90,000 country music fans expected across the three cities.
Continuing Dolly’s legacy beyond music
For country music fans, the partnership also highlights an important part of Dolly Parton’s legacy away from the stage.
The Imagination Library was founded in 1995, inspired by Dolly’s father, who was unable to read and write. Beginning in her home county in Tennessee, the programme has since grown internationally and has gifted more than 300 million books to children.
The first Imagination Library book was gifted in the UK in 2008. Today, the programme reaches almost 90,000 children across the country each month, delivering specially selected books directly to their homes at no cost to their families.
Clare Cook, Director of Fundraising and Communications at The Dollywood Foundation UK, said the connection with the country music community made the new partnership particularly special.
“Dolly’s music means so much to the country music community, and it feels incredibly special to have C2C and its fans helping to continue another important part of her legacy.”
She added that Dolly believed passionately in giving children the opportunity to dream big, with the Imagination Library designed to encourage a love of books and reading from the earliest years.
C2C fans helping children across the UK
Jack Dowling of SJM Concerts and Rachel Lloyd of AEG Presents said the partnership gives the C2C community an opportunity to contribute to a programme whose impact extends far beyond country music.
“The work of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has created a legacy that will be felt for generations to come,” they said, adding that they were proud C2C fans could help support children across the UK.
The announcement forms part of Give Like Dolly Day, a global celebration encouraging individuals and organisations to follow Dolly’s longstanding commitment to giving back and support causes that matter to them.
With tens of thousands of fans travelling to London, Glasgow and Manchester each March, the new partnership means C2C’s annual celebration of country music will now also contribute directly to a cause closely associated with one of the genre’s most iconic figures.
C2C Festival 2027 takes place from 12-14 March 2027 at The O2, London; OVO Hydro, Glasgow; and AO Arena, Manchester.
