Merritt, though not as well known for its cowboy heritage as towns such as Calgary, Alberta, has its own history of cowboys and really big cattle ranches. Plus, Merritt is pretty far west - between it and the Pacific Ocean one will not find many more ranches, just mountains. As part of their country music heritage, Merritt has hosted an annual
Country Music Fest for many years, with a short hiatus from 2012 to 2014. The 2015 music fest takes place from July 30 to August 2, 2015. Through the year the city hosts many more country and country music related events and activities. Whether it's official or unofficial, Merritt is known as the
Country Music Capital of Canada.
The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame is right in downtown Merritt, on Quilchena Avenue, surrounded by a "Walk of Stars" of the country music industry, a display of bronzed handprints of past Music Fest artists placed around the community, accompanied by many murals of country artists and country themes.
As of 2015 there have been a total of 93
inductees to the Hall of Fame, 53 Artists, 28 Builders and 12 Broadcasters. Wilf Carter (Montana Slim to those south of the 49th), one of the best known western crooners of the '30s and '40s and the “Father of Canadian Country”, was the initial inductee to the Hall of Fame, in 1984.
The Merritt location was created in 2012 as an arm of the Canadian Country Music Heritage Society in order to create a venue to display artefacts related to the inductees of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and of the country music industry in general.