Summer music festivals for everyone to enjoy
Bob Olynyk's mechanic can hardly believe the truck Olynyk bought new in 1984 is still running, considering he has driven it more than one million miles in the past 28 years.
While many of those miles were driven across Western Canada as Olynyk travelled for work as a general contractor, many of them are from Olynyk's many trips to different Christian music festivals. Depending on what his work schedule is like this summer, the Portage la Prairie, Manitoba resident estimates he will visit anywhere from 25 to 40 different festivals.
"Everybody's got music in them, everybody wants to dance, everybody wants to sing, everybody wants to fellowship [and] you can't quite get it over a pot of coffee," says Olynyk, who adds that he has had a hand in planning hundreds of festivals over the past 40 years.
There are more than 35 gospel music festivals scheduled for June, July, August and September in western Canada, according to GospelMusicFestivals.net, a website Olynyk runs. That number does not include festivals that are happening in the U.S. or larger festivals like Sonshine or Cornerstone.
Glenella Gospel Music Festival is on the list. The sixth annual event takes place on Sunday, July 8 in Glenella, Manitoba, and organizer David Thiessen is looking forward to it.
"I'm hoping it will be a good turnout and, like usual, we always plan it to be praise and glory for God," Thiessen says of the event, which includes a barbeque meal. "Our biggest aim is basically to get together, fellowship with others and have a good time together."
While Thiessen expects 150 to 200 people at the Glenella festival, thousands will flock to the Canada's Wonderland amusement park in Vaughan, Ontario on Saturday, June 23 for Wonder Jam, a festival whose line-up boasts popular Christian rock bands like Skillet and Kutless.
Richard Young, director of operations for Premier Festivals, which is organizing Wonder Jam, says the purpose of any Christian music event is, first and foremost, to present the gospel message.
"It's all about representing and sharing Christ," says Young, who organized his first event, a concert by classic Christian rock band Petra, in 1982 when he was a youth pastor. "Second to that, I want to share Christian music with the masses because it's such an incredible vehicle to really strengthen your faith."
Bob Poe agrees. Poe started Sonshine Festival in Willmar, Minnesota 31 years ago. Roughly 1,800 people attended the first Sonshine event, which included a performance by Sandy Patti. In the past few years, the festival has consistently attracted between 18,000 and 20,000 people.
This year's event, which takes place from Wednesday, July 11 to Saturday, July 14, will include more than 75 bands performing on three different stages. The festival covers a variety of genres, from rock and pop to screamo and metalcore.
"We want to encourage young people who are following Christ to continue that - to strengthen their commitment," Poe says. "Sonshine has also always had an evangelistic purpose. If someone comes to the festival and they aren't a Christian, we want to challenge them to commit their life to the Lord."
Poe adds that personal highlights of the past 31 years haven't been particular musical performances, but rather hearing stories from festival attendees about how Sonshine impacted their lives. He knows ministers who first became Christians at Sonshine, and married couples who first met at the festival.
"It's a bigger-than-life production," Poe says, "but when the lights go out and everyone goes home, it's a changed life that keeps us going."
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