Friday, October 26, 2007

Christian Festival Association Adds 4 New Events to 2008 Schedule

Christian Festival Association Adds 4 New Events to 2008 Schedule By
Elena Garcia
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Oct. 11 2007 12:29 PM ET
 

The largest association of multi-day Christian music festivals recently welcomed four new festivals to next year’s season.

At their recent fall meeting in Nashville, members of Christian Festival Association voted to add four new festivals to the 2008 roster – Sonshine Festival (Wilmar, Minn.), Spirit Song Festival (King’s Island, Ohio), King’s Fest (Doswell, Va.) and Crossover Festival (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.).

The four festivals will join the 23-member-strong association, which includes member festivals like Cornerstone California, Cornerstone Florida, Creation Festival Northeast, and Spirit West Cost.

All new member events are scheduled to take place during the peak summer season of Christian music festivals.

Crossover Festival will debut June 10-12, 2008, at the Stoneridge Ampitheater at Lake of the Ozarks, and Spirit Song Festival and King’s Fest will hit two amusement parts July 10-12, 2008. Spirit Song Festival is held at the King’s Fair theme park near Cincinnati, while King’s Fest takes place at King’s Dominion, just north of Richmond, Va. Festival-goers will get to enjoy not only Christian music but all the rides and attractions.

Sonshine Festival, to be held July 17-19, 2008, will feature five stages, a “Tent City” camping village, an Xtreme Games park, and skateboard area. The event will spread over 80 acres on the Willmar High School campus and Civic Center grounds.

According to CFA president Bob Thompson, over 1.5 million people attend the Christian music festivals put on by CFA members.

During the fall meeting, festival directors also attended artist showcases to spot new talent.

According to Thompson, the main focus of the music festivals is to bring the Gospel message through music to festival participants.

“In order to effectively translate the Gospel to the next generation at our festivals, the music and its message must be capable of reaching its audience at a heart, mind and soul level,” said Thompson.

“While we do not require or expect the lyrics of our artists' music to be taken directly from Scripture,” he added, “we do expect that the message is consistent with God's plan for our lives, as described in His Word.”

The group is scheduled to meet again in Nashville in April 2008, a month before the Christian music festival season launches. The season ends in December.

On the Web: A complete listing of CFA’s music festivals at christianfestivals.org

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