The Creation Festival announces the official line-up for the 27th Annual East and West Events.
The largest outdoor Christian music and teaching festival of its kind, Creation continues the tradition of featuring the hottest acts in Christian music, as well as highlighting up-and-coming artists and introducing young audiences to some of the foundational artists who have made Christian music what it is today. Creation East will be held June 29th – July 2nd at the Agape Farm in the beautiful mountain ranges of Mount Union, PA. Celebrating its 8th year, Creation West will be held at the amazing Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA July 27th –30th.
This year’s main stage line-up includes Michael W. Smith, TobyMac, Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, Relient K, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Phil Keaggy and popular mainstream artists Switchfoot and MercyMe, along with many other nationally known favorites. “The Fringe” side stage will feature the best of the up-and-coming alternative Christian artists, including Cool Hand Luke, Thousand Foot Krutch, John Reuben, Tree 63, Roper, Disciple, Number One Gun, FM Static and KJ-52, among others. The Festival will also present many new artists who are on the rise, including MuteMath, Hawk Nelson, Bethany Dillon and M.O.C.
In addition to the top-notch artists performing at each event, speakers from across the country will take the stage throughout the day to challenge and encourage listeners. Among this year’s featured speakers are Harvest Crusades’ Greg Laurie, Teen Mania Ministries’ founder Ron Luce, Lakita Garth, L.G. Wise, Michael Franzese, Mark Matlock and Margaret Becker.
As has become tradition at the Creation Festival, the main stage programming will end each night with a special activity. Wednesday is a spectacular fireworks display, Thursday is a Communion service and Friday is the beautiful Candlelight worship service. The glow of thousands of candles has been a Festival high point since 1982. Saturday afternoon provides a joyful celebration as new believers can take part in a special water baptism.
Another highlight to the Festival is the Late Night Café. Each evening after the main stage shuts down, the Late Night Café opens to provide entertainment for the “night owls” in attendance. Wednesday night is the Acoustic Café, featuring Canadian band, Starfield. Thursday is the Living Illusions show and Friday is the Creation House Party with the Cross Movement hosting a late night hip-hop and rap party.
An event for the entire family, both Creation East and West also provide a Children’s Tent, which will feature a program geared especially for the younger attendees, including Phredd Furman, Bigsby and an array of puppets and fun music. Each afternoon, kids gather under the trees in the “Kids Grove” for a special craft time.
Creation Festival also strives to provide resources that will make the event an even better learning tool. Every afternoon there are special seminars on a variety of topics from keynote speakers, as well as a daily Musician Seminar, hosted by Christian Musician Magazine. Again this year, Creation will team up with Interlinc to provide youth leaders with excellent seminars and other resources, including a daily afternoon seminar lead by Duffy Robins, Talkback Sessions where Group Leaders can meet and have candid discussions with some of the most popular artists appearing at the Festival, and a VIP Youth Leader Tent, where leaders can get out of the sun, look through an assortment of free literature and other beneficial resources and share ideas with other Youth Leaders.
Other special features include the Vertical Worship Tent, X-Games, including climbing walls, spider jumps and sumo wrestling, the King of Kings Skateboard Ministry, a team of hard-core skaters who spend their time entertaining with their talent and sharing their faith with the youth, a Gear Giveaway and a vendor Exhibit area with almost 200 booths with an assortment of merchandise and apparel available for purchase and ministries and colleges offering free literature and information.
The Creation Festival was founded in 1979 in Pennsylvania and has since grown to become the largest event of its kind. The Festival added a second event in 1997 on the west coast, held at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA. In 2005, Creation is branching out once again; this time internationally. Friendship Fest will be held May 6th – 8th just outside the beautiful gardens and old walls of Marrakech, the cultural capital of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Tens of thousands of people attend the Creation Festivals from all across the United States and Canada, as well as many international countries, including Iceland, Switzerland, and France. In September 2002, CBS News featured a 20 minute segment about the Creation Festivals in its “Sunday Morning” show with Charles Kuralt, which was viewed by over eight million people across the nation. The Festival has also been featured by mainstream media outlets VH1, Details Magazine, The New York Times and GQ Magazine, which is running an article in their current issue. This piece is the largest feature story in the history of the magazine.
In April 2004, the Creation Festival was awarded the Gospel Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that recognizes major contributions to the gospel music industry through a company’s commitment to the Christian community for 20 or more years.
For more information about Creation East and West, to view the complete program, or for information on purchasing tickets to the event or becoming involved as a volunteer staff member, please visit www.creationfest.com and choose the link to the Festival you would like to attend.
