CCMA Awards taking place this weekend in Hamilton

A celebration of some of the best country music in Canada is happening in Hamilton this weekend, as the Canadian Country Music Association hosts its annual awards show.

The CCMA Awards honour Canadian country music achievements, and will be held tomorrow at the FirstOntario Centre.

A competition to find Canada’s next top name in country music was held leading up to the awards show. Hailey Benedict of Alberta was crowned as this year’s SiriusXM Top of the Country competition winner.

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“I feel like, a lot of people, a lot of the time you see all the success and everything online, but you don’t necessarily see all the rejections and the no’s, or all the hard work that goes behind the scenes,” Benedict said.

“So, to have that pay off was just really special and to have that hard work come to fruition yesterday was just a really incredible moment and a really special feeling for sure.”

She walked away with the coveted title, and a grand prize of $25,000.

The CCMA Awards are hosted by sibling duo ‘The Reklaws,’ and kick off Saturday night at 8 p.m.