The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has announced London will host the 39th annual Country Music Week, one of the largest music events in Canada.

In a statement, CCMA president Don Green said "We couldn’t be more thrilled with the engagement of the City of London and truly look forward to celebrating the Canadian country music industry in this vibrant city for the first time ever!"

The four-day event, which will run September 8-11, 2016, culminates with the broadcast of the Canadian Country Music Awards and is expected to mean great exposure and big tourism dollars for the city.

John Winston of Tourism London says it's a big relief to share the announcement after four months of secrecy.

"We will be using all the venues, there will be 600 people from the industry coming from all over North America...It's a huge relief to finally tell Londoners that one of the biggest national cultural events will be coming here."

According to the CCMA, the economic impact on host cities has traditionally been approximately $6-8 million, including close to 2,000 hotel room nights, local employment for production, printing, transportation, venues, food and beverage, decor and entertainment expenses.

In addition, over three million Canadians are expected to tune in to watch the awards show, which will be broadcast from Budweiser Gardens.

After successfully hosting numerous national and international sporting events, the chair of the city's bid committee said the enthusiasm for hosting this event has been overwhelming.

Chris Campbell says "Country music is incredibly popular here. Seems like every song that goes to number one is country."

London beat out five other bids from cities across Canada to host the event, which is being held for the first time ever in southwestern Ontario and is returning to central Canada for the first time in five years.

For more information please visit: www.ccma.org