In Psalm 95 it reads, “Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation,” and that is exactly what the Alive Festival fulfilled this year!

   The four day festival that takes place annually at Clay’s Park in Canal Fulton, Ohio is a combination of concerts, seminars, camping, lake-side fun, merchandise tents, and food concession stands (in case you burn your hotdogs back at camp!). Formed in 1988, the Alive Festival’s goal has been to not only reach unbelievers, but to encourage Christians in their walk with Christ as well.

   As one fellow camper, 19 year old, Peter Wills, from Xenia, Ohio, exclaimed, “This place is like one big family!” Throughout the week friendships grew between campers. It wasn’t unusual for someone to be sitting around their campfire and shout out a “Good morning!” or “You excited about the bands tonight?” to their camping neighbors nearby. People like 18 year old Steve Heiser from Prairie Township, Ohio, and his cousin Zendell Mayle from Canton, Ohio, were friendly enough to strike up a conversation with others before the bands began to play. Steve explained that this was their first time attending the Alive Festival. He shared that the reason they came to Alive was because “We love Christian music, we love God and meeting Christians.” The atmosphere of openness and acceptance truly made Alive seem like a close knit family.

   The Alive Festival had three different stages. During the day people either attended concerts at the Beach or Wood stage. By late afternoon, everyone gathered at the main, Amphitheater stage. In between sound checks for bands, there was always host Mike Williams, award winning comedian, to entertain the crowd. His jokes kept the crowd occupied while anticipating the bands to begin. At night, people came together to sing praises to the King. It was beautiful to see God’s children from different denominations all worshiping God. A real crowd pleaser was when bands would slowly have their instruments fade and allow the 50,000 worshipers to lift up their voices to the heavens, echoing the angels in heaven.

   With 45 different Christian artists, it was overwhelming! Amazingly talented artists like Chris Tomlin, Audio Adrenaline, Toby Mac, Newsboys, Relient K, Switchfoot, Pillar, David Crowder Band, and Third Day made it hard to remember that they’re just regular people. In a Worship Together seminar, where artists shared their musical writing techniques, Sarah Kelly helped remind us how human she is by jokingly explaining, “You guys might as well know now I’m a really big dork.”

   It was evident the Christian artists wanted to do more than just share their music. They also wanted to share what God had been teaching them. In the same seminar that Sarah Kelly spoke at, Chris Tomlin was also there to explain his techniques for writing songs. He shared how “It’s just beautiful how God brings people together and these songs come alive like that.” Later in the week, Jon Foreman, from the band Switchfoot, shared his beliefs that “Faith is so much more than a t-shirt. So much more than rock ‘n roll.” At the end of the week, Third Day led the festival in an amazing time of worship. The lead singer, Mac Powell, explained how he prays that years from now it won’t be the music, or the bands that the attendees at this festival remember, it will purely be the time spent with the Lord.

   Unlike what some may think, the Alive Festival wasn’t about the camping, getting autographs and souvenirs, getting a tan at the lake, or the bands playing the music, it was simply about Jesus.