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A Christian music festival (also known as a Jesus music festival or simply a Jesus festival) is a
music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
held by the
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
community, in support of performers of
Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...
. The festivals are characterized by more than just music; many feature motivational speakers and evangelists, and include seminars on Christian spiritual and missions topics,
service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...
, and
evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...
. They are often viewed as evangelical tools, and small festivals can draw 10 times the crowd of traditional
revival meetings A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held to inspire active members of a church body to gain new converts and to call sinners to repent. Those who lead revival services are known as revivalists (or evangelists). Nineteent ...
. While the central theme of a Christian festival is
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, the core appeal of a Christian music festival remains the artists and their music. Critics point out that the dichotomy of business and religious interests can be problematic for Christian festivals. In similar ways as the
Christian music industry The Christian music industry is one aspect of the broader music industry, with a focus on Christian music and subgenres such as gospel music, southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, contemporary worship music, and even traditional church m ...
in general, festivals can be drawn away from their central theme and gravitate toward commercialization and mainstream acts in an attempt to draw crowds. Though Christian music festivals had been held prior to it, 1972 is seen as a pivotal year for Christian music due to the
Explo '72 Explo '72 was an evangelistic conference sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, planned and directed by Paul Eshleman. Explo '72 has been called the most visible event of the 1970s Jesus movement, and came to be associated with the same, even thou ...
event, which was concluded by a massive music festival. Today Christian music festivals are held regularly throughout the United States and around the world. Christian music festivals were often supported by evangelical organizations; this is still true today, however, there are a number of free-standing festivals as well. Christian festivals are sometimes attached as secondary events to youth conferences, revival meetings, or billed as a part of a weekend package at
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
s. In 1999 the
Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership c ...
estimated the commercial revenue of Christian music festivals in the United States at approximately $22 million, with a combined attendance of over one-half million people. Christian music festivals continued to grow significantly into the 2000s, with the number of large festivals rising, and the formation of a representative organization for the festivals themselves. While
counter-culture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
is generally accepted many attendees dress conservatively, and unlike their mainstream counterparts Christian music festivals are relatively free of
alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
and drug use. Even at the Explo '72 festival, which was attended by 150,000 or more people, police reported a trouble free event.


In the United States

In the early days of the Jesus People movement Christian events were sometimes held as part of secular music festivals. As the genre of
Jesus music Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music that originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement ...
gained artists, its followers began to sponsor festivals, mimicking secular events such as
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
and
Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16-18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Ex ...
. One of the first events, the
Youth for Christ Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenager ...
sponsored Faith Festival, was first held in 1970 in
Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...
. The event drew enough attention that the following year it garnered coverage by
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
and attracted about 15,000. Artists at the Faith Festival included
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...
,
Gene Cotton Gene Cotton (born June 30, 1944 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American pop and folk singer-songwriter. He is best known for his four ''Billboard'' top 40 entries during the years 1976–1978. In the UK, he is most famous for the song "Me and the E ...
, Danny Taylor, Crimson Bridge, and "e", a band which included Greg X. Volz. The attention that the Faith Festivals drew made them prototypes for future Christian music festivals. Also in 1970,
Asbury Theological Seminary Asbury Theological Seminary is a Christian Wesleyan seminary in the historical Methodist tradition located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. It is known for its advocacy of egalitarianism, giv ...
professor Robert Lyon founded the Ichthus Music Festival, which is presently the longest running Christian music festival. '' The Hollywood Free Paper'', a publication about the Jesus people movement, sponsored festivals in California and other areas of the United States. In 1971 the "Love Song Festival", sponsored by
Maranatha! Music Maranatha! Music is a Christian music record label which was founded as a nonprofit ministry of Calvary Chapel in 1971. The label is distributed by Capitol Christian Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group, Universal Music. Background ...
, was held at
Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...
. Attendance was reported to be 20,000, a park record at the time, and artists included
Love Song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...
, The Way,
Blessed Hope Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified * Blessed, a saint title assigned by the Eastern Orthodox Church to various saints, typical ...
, and the
Children of the Day Children of the Day was a Jesus music group that recorded and toured from 1970 to 1980. It is considered to be the first group in the genre, and band member Marsha Stevens referred to as the mother of contemporary Christian music. Career After b ...
. In late 1971 ''Christianity Today'' summarized four festivals that had taken place during the summer season. The same article described the artists who appeared at a
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
event, including
Gentle Faith Gentle Faith was a Christian country rock band in the 1970s, during the Jesus music era. An early version of the group released a song on ''The Everlastin' Living Jesus Music Concert'' in 1971 and one self-titled album in 1976 on the Maranatha! la ...
, Tom Howard, Ron Salsbury, The Bridge, and
Randy Stonehill Randall Evan Stonehill (born March 12, 1952) is an American singer and songwriter from Stockton, California, best known as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. His music is primarily folk rock in the style of James Taylor, but ...
, as being "veterans of Jesus rock festivals". 1972 is seen as a pivotal year for Christian music festivals due to a
crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
and
evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...
training event called
Explo '72 Explo '72 was an evangelistic conference sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, planned and directed by Paul Eshleman. Explo '72 has been called the most visible event of the 1970s Jesus movement, and came to be associated with the same, even thou ...
, held in
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Explo was sponsored by the World Conference on Missions and
Campus Crusade for Christ Cru (until 2011 known as Campus Crusade for Christ—informally "Campus Crusade" or simply "Crusade"—or CCC) is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by ...
. The week-long event was attended by 80,000 registered attendees and concluded with a day-long music festival. The attendance of the final event was reported by ''Life'' magazine at 150,000 and was characteristic by
Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...
as a "religious
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
." The Explo '72 roster contained artists in a variety of genres including performers
Larry Norman Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...
, Love Song,
Andrae Crouch Andrae, Andræ (Danish) or Andrä is a surname and given name, which is a variant of Andreae, itself a patronymic (via the Latin genitive case) from the personal name Andreas. Notable persons with this name include: Surname * Ahmed-Tobias Andr ...
, and
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
. Explo '72 was a watershed event for the fledgling Jesus Music genre, and was the most visible event of the Jesus People movement. It is also the largest Christian music festival ever recorded; some critics even credit Explo with jump-starting the Christian music industry. Early Christian music festivals were noted for their conservatism, often limiting their
artistic expression Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
to "safe, middle-of-the-road acts." The Jesus Festival, which was founded in 1973, offers a few illustrative incidents. In their inaugural year they hired a promoter, Tim Landis, who brought in acts such as 2nd Chapter of Acts, Pat Terry, and
Phil Keaggy Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...
. The conservative owners, who wanted a
family oriented Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as m ...
music festival, found the music "a little too racy" and fired him. The following year at the same festival,
Randy Matthews Randy Matthews (born May 7, 1950) is an American Christian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pioneer of Jesus music. He was born into a family with at least five ordained ministers, including his father, Monty, a founding member of the Jordanai ...
was chased off stage by a crowd which pronounced him to be
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...
or
drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...
possessed due to his musical style and his announcement of an impending tour with
Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
and
ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...
. Matthews was later dropped from the tour roster. The number and size of Christian music festivals continued to grow alongside the Christian music industry. By the mid 1970s festivals had appeared in all parts of the country. Tim Landis went on to found the
Creation Festival Creation Festival, commonly shortened to Creation, was an annual four-day Christian music festival in the United States. According to its organizers, it was the "Nation's Largest Christian Music Festival." Average attendance was between 50,000 ...
in 1979, which was designed to appeal the youth, and has become one of the largest Christian festivals in the United States. For several years Creation was held at the same venue as the Jesus Festival, the Agape Farm, only a few weeks apart. More specialized festivals appeared to fill
niche market A niche market is the subset of the market on which a product is appealed to a small group of consumers. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the ...
s within the industry. The first completely rock music oriented festival was held in 1981. Called Illinois Jam, it featured artists including
Barnabas Barnabas (; ; ), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christians, Christian, one of the prominent Disciple (Christianity), Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jews, Cyprio ...
,
Servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...
, Randall Waller, and Randy Stonehill.
Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal, or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian-themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band-members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...
festivals also emerged, particularly in the late 1980s. One such festival was held in
Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...
in September 1987. The lineup was entirely Christian metal bands and included
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
, Barren Cross,
Vengeance Rising Vengeance Rising was an American Christian thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Fronted by vocalist Roger Martinez, they originally formed as Vengeance in 1987, but changed their name in 1989 to avoid conflict with another band from ...
, and many smaller bands. While the members of
Jesus People USA Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. JPUSA emerged from Jesus People Milwaukee in 1972, and maintains one of the largest continuing communities ...
had long been involved in Christian festivals around the country, the
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
organization founded the
Cornerstone Festival Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...
in 1984, influenced by the Greenbelt festival of the UK with which Jesus People USA shared a common heritage. Seeing the trend toward conservatism, Cornerstone was designed to set itself apart by being artistically unrestrictive. Its design came from the counter-culture of JPUSA itself, with an intent to appeal to an audience that may not have been attracted to more conservative forms of music. As ''
Cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
'' magazine editor Jon Trott later characterized it: "Cornerstone would be to Jesus festivals what
Seven Up 7 Up (stylized as 7UP worldwide) or Seven Up is an American brand of lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo except ...
was to
cola Cola is a Carbonation, carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus essential oil, oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked br ...
: the ''unfestival''." Their slogan in 1984 was "More Rock And Roll Than Anyone Has Dared"; Artists included
Kerry Livgren Kerry Allen Livgren (born September 18, 1949) is an American musician, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the American rock band Kansas. Livgren, raised in Topeka, Kansas, developed an early interest in musi ...
,
Resurrection Band Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for t ...
, The Choir, Joe English, and the
Sweet Comfort Band Sweet Comfort Band was an American Christian rock band that first performed in 1973 in Riverside, California, and were active until 1984. The band was initially composed of keyboardist/lead vocalist, Bryan Duncan, and brothers Kevin (bass guitar ...
. Cornerstone was one of the premier Christian music festivals, and was most influential promoting groups on the fringe of Christian music. The last Cornerstone Festival was held in 2012, citing the difficult economy. The Alive Festival was founded in 1988 in Ohio and is one of the longest running three-day festivals with over 45 artists on three stages. In the 1990s the contemporary Christian music industry experienced explosive growth and saw the establishment of new festivals as well. The most significant of these are Purple Door and Tomfest, the latter of which regularly holds mini-festivals in diverse parts of the country. Since the turn of the century traveling tours such as Festival Con Dios and
Shout Fest SHOUTfest (also known as ShoutFest) is an annual Christian music festival that features popular Contemporary Christian music acts. Beginning in 2002, SHOUTfest was coordinated by Jeff Roberts Booking Agency, a Christian rock booking agency based i ...
have appeared. They are often similar in structure to their secular counterparts such as
Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...
or
Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...
, offering
extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extre ...
and a carnival-like atmosphere. Throughout the 2000s, the attendance at United States festivals grew significantly. According to one source, the number of Christian music festivals attended by more than 5000 youths grew from five in the year 2000 to 35 in 2006. As a result of this growth, many US festivals have formed a collective organization, the
Christian Festival Association The Christian Festival Association was formed in September 2006. The group consists of members representing major Christian music festivals held in the United States and Canada. Collectively, this group represents nearly a million attendees annually ...
, to represent their interests. LifeLight Communications started an annual LifeLight Music Festival in 1998 which now occurs over
Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...
weekend on farmland near
Worthing, South Dakota Worthing is a city in Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States and is located south of Sioux Falls. The population was 927 at the 2020 census. History Worthing was laid out in 1879, and named after a railroad employee. Geography According ...
.


Worldwide

Christian music festivals now exist throughout the world. The Jesus Music
Greenbelt festival Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown out of an evangelical Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young people into its current form, a more inclusive f ...
, founded in 1974 by Americans and British in the United Kingdom, was at one time the largest recurring Christian music festival in the world, and has always been focused on the arts as well as music. Germany is host to several festivals; four of the most notable are
Christmas Rock Night Christmas Rock Night is a Christian music festival held annually during December in Ennepetal, Germany. The festival does not focus on particular styles of Christian music, but leans toward harder forms including metal and alternative. Backgroun ...
, Freakstock, Himmelfahrt-Festival and Rock Without Limits. In greater Europe notable festivals include Flevo and EO-Youth Day in the Netherlands, Seaside Festival in Norway, the
Big Boss' Festival The Big Boss' Festival was an open-air Christian music festival. It is for the Big Boss: God. This festival began with two bands in 1999. Now, more than 4000 people come each year, and more than 14 international bands play on two stages. It takes ...
in Switzerland, the Song of Songs Festival in Poland, Festival Lumen in Slovakia and Frizon Festival in Sweden. In 2014 the first Christian music festival is being held in Hungary (named Cross Sound). A sanctioned Christian festival was held in 1989 in
Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
,
Soviet Estonia The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit (union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...
. The festival featured performances by American artists such as Sheila Walsh,
Bruce Carroll Bruce Carroll (born December 5, 1953), is an American CCM singer and multi Grammy and Dove Award winning recording artist. Biography Carroll first began performing in a trio with his siblings at age 12; he played folk music in various venues in ...
,
Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...
, and
Scott Wesley Brown Scott Wesley Brown (born June 4, 1952) is an American CCM singer and songwriter. He has recorded 25 albums and toured in over 50 countries. Biography Brown was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He recorded for Sparrow Records for much of h ...
, and had an attendance of 15,000. This was reported to be the first such festival. In 1992, after the
Fall of the Iron Curtain Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...
, a Christian music festival was held in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Dubbed as a "Christian arts festival", the event included acts to appeal to all ages from a variety of styles, largely representing greater Europe and North America. The event also included orchestras from the UK and Russia, and Russian headliner
Boris Grebenshchikov Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the founder and lead singer of the band Aquarium which has been active since ...
. The shows, which were organized by
Youth With A Mission Youth With A Mission (typically shortened YWAM, generally pronounced ) is an interdenominational Christian mission organization with a focus on missionary work and training for Christian missions. Founded by American missionary Loren Cunningha ...
, sold out 10,000 tickets well in advance. From 1992–2014, New Zealand hosted the Southern Hemisphere's largest Christian festival, the annual
Parachute Music Festival Parachute Music Festival was a Christian music festival held annually in New Zealand between 1992 - 2014. Originally starting in Waikanae, the event moved to Matamata in 1995, and then finally to Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, New Zealan ...
. It attracted a large number of non-Christians. In Brazil, in the city of
Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...
,
Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...
annually happens Halleluya Festival, which brings together music from the various attractions theatrical performances and dance. Is among the largest Catholic music festivals in the world, and in its latest edition the record crowd of 300,000 people in one day, and more than 1 million people over the five days of the Festival. The event is held by
Catholic Community Shalom The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international instituti ...
. The Halleluya Festival has editions in several Brazilian cities such as
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
,
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
,
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, and also outside the country as in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. In the United Kingdom,
Delirious? Delirious? (formerly known as The Cutting Edge Band) were an English contemporary Christian band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G (full name Stuart Garrard) on guitar and backin ...
keyboardist Tim Jupp founded the Big Church Festival in 2009. The Festival, which began as Big Church Day Out, is held annually in
Wiston, West Sussex Wiston is a scattered village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A283 road northwest of Steyning. The parish covers an area of . In the 2001 census 221 people lived in 86 households, of whom 120 ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. Performers have included
Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock music, rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drum kit, drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (g ...
,
Reuben Morgan Reuben Timothy Morgan (born 9 August 1975) is an Australian worship pastor at Hillsong Church and one of several worship leaders and songwriters in Hillsong Worship group. Prior to this he was a worship pastor at Hillsong Church in Sydney, Au ...
,
Mary Mary Mary Mary is an American urban contemporary gospel duo formed in 1998, consisting of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Trecina Atkins-Campbell. Their name is inspired by two biblical figures: Mary, mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene. They ar ...
, and
Stu G Stuart David Garrard (born 6 July 1963) better known by his stage name Stu G, is an English vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He was one third of US-based Christian contemporary music band One Sonic Society, and is writing and recording as ...
. The Festival attracts approximately 30,000 people annually and from 2025, the Festival will move from the Late Spring Bank Holiday in May, to the Summer Bank Holiday in August and run for 3 days instead of 2.


See also

*
Music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
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Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...


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Gospel Music Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Music Festival