A Christian music festival (also known as a Jesus music festival or simply a Jesus festival ) is a music festival held by the Christian community, in support of performers of Christian music . 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 , and evangelism . They are often viewed as evangelical tools, and small festivals can draw 10 times the crowd of traditional revival meetings . While the central theme of a Christian festival is Jesus Christ , 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 in general, festivals can be drawn away from their central theme and gravitate toward commercialization and mainstream acts in an attempt to draw crowds.
85-477: 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 played at other events such as Creation Festival and mainstream festivals and tours such as the Warped Tour . The final festival was held in 2012. Cornerstone Festival
170-436: A "CD collection [co-produced for Rhino by archivist Andy Zax ] that lays the '69 fest out in chronological order, from the first stage announcements to muddy farewells." The only things missing from this 38-CD edition were two Jimi Hendrix songs that his estate did not believe were up to the required standard and some of Sha Na Na 's music that missed being captured on tape. Because of various production and warehousing issues,
255-542: A 1970 revival of the festival, saying, "As far as I know, I'm going back to running a dairy farm." Yasgur died in 1973. In 1984, at the original festival site, land owners Louis Nicky and June Gelish put up a monument marker with plaques called "Peace and Music" by a local sculptor from nearby Bloomingburg , Wayne C. Saward. Attempts were made to prevent people from visiting the site. Its owners spread chicken manure, and during one anniversary, tractors and state police cars formed roadblocks. Twenty thousand people gathered at
340-416: A Generation is a documentary by Barak Goodman, produced in 2019 by PBS . It focused on Woodstock's social and political context and contained previously unseen footage supplemented by voice-over anecdotes from people at the festival. It focused more on the scenes in the crowd (and around the country) than on the stage. Creating Woodstock was directed by Mick Richards and produced in 2019. It looked at how
425-540: A book about the events behind the scenes during the production of the Woodstock Festival. Bethel voters did not re-elect Supervisor Amatucci in an election held in November 1969 because of his role in bringing the festival to the town and the upset attributed to some residents. Although accounts vary, it was decided by only a small margin of between six and fifty votes. The New York State Legislature and
510-479: A crowd which pronounced him to be demon or drug possessed due to his musical style and his announcement of an impending tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top . 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
595-569: A huge traffic jam. The town of Bethel did not enforce its codes, fearing chaos as crowds flowed to the site. Radio and television descriptions of the traffic jams eventually discouraged people from setting off to the festival. Arlo Guthrie made an announcement that was included in the film saying that the New York State Thruway was closed, although the director of the Woodstock museum said that this did not happen. To add to
680-569: A live album of his entire Woodstock set. The album contains eleven tracks, ten of which were previously unreleased. On August 2, 2019, the Rhino/Atlantic released Woodstock – Back to the Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive , a massive 38 disc, 36-hour, 432-song completists' audio box set of nearly every note played at the original 1969 Woodstock festival (including 276 songs that were previously unreleased),
765-533: A meeting three days before the event, Rosenman was asked by the construction foremen to choose between (a) completing the fencing and ticket booths, without which Roberts and Rosenman would be facing almost certain bankruptcy after the festival, or (b) trying to complete the stage, without which it would be a weekend of half a million concert-goers with no concerts. The next morning, on Wednesday, it became clear that option (a) had disappeared. Overnight, 50,000 "early birds" had arrived and had planted themselves in front of
850-543: A motorcyclist to get stories and pictures from the impassable crowd to the newspaper's office 35 miles (56 km) away in Middletown. The documentary film Woodstock , directed by Michael Wadleigh and edited by a crew headed by Thelma Schoonmaker , was released in March 1970. Artie Kornfeld (one of the promoters of the festival) went to Fred Weintraub , an executive at Warner Bros. , and asked for money to film
935-430: A natural bowl sloping down to Filippini Pond on the land's north side. The stage would be set up at the bottom of the hill with Filippini Pond forming a backdrop. The pond became a popular skinny dipping destination. Filippini was the only landowner who refused to sign a lease for the use of his property. The organizers again told Bethel authorities that they expected no more than 50,000 people. Despite opposition from
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#17327866655661020-572: A part of a weekend package at theme parks . In 1999 the Gospel Music Association 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
1105-452: A pivotal moment in popular music history, as well as a defining event for the silent and baby boomer generations. The event's significance was reinforced by a 1970 documentary film , an accompanying soundtrack album , and a song written by Joni Mitchell that became a major hit for both Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Matthews Southern Comfort . Musical events bearing the Woodstock name were planned for anniversaries, including
1190-683: 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 , was held at Knott's Berry Farm . Attendance was reported to be 20,000, a park record at the time, and artists included Love Song , The Way , Blessed Hope , and the Children of the Day . In late 1971 Christianity Today summarized four festivals that had taken place during
1275-430: A tractor ran over a 17-year-old sleeping in a nearby hayfield. Births were claimed to have occurred, one in a car caught in traffic and another in hospital after an airlift by helicopter, but extensive research by a book author could not confirm any births. Several miscarriages were reported (sources range from four to eight) and over the course of the three days there were 742 drug overdoses . Max Yasgur, who owned
1360-546: Is held annually in Wiston, West Sussex , England . Performers have included Switchfoot , Reuben Morgan , Mary Mary , and Stu G . The Festival attracts approximately 25,000 people annually. 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 , 40 miles (65 km) southwest of
1445-560: Is seen as a pivotal year for Christian music due to the Explo '72 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
1530-542: The 10th , 20th , 25th , 30th , 40th , and 50th . In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine listed it as number 19 of the 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll. In 2017, the festival site became listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Woodstock was initiated through the efforts of Michael Lang , Artie Kornfeld , Joel Rosenman , and John P. Roberts . Roberts and Rosenman financed
1615-779: The Creation Festival 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 markets within the industry. The first completely rock music oriented festival was held in 1981. Called Illinois Jam, it featured artists including Barnabas , Servant , Randall Waller , and Randy Stonehill. Christian metal festivals also emerged, particularly in
1700-584: The Vietnam War ), as well as the views of the townspeople. Woodstock received the Academy Award for Documentary Feature . In 1996, the film was inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry . In 1994, Woodstock: The Director's Cut was released and expanded to include Janis Joplin as well as additional performances by Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and Canned Heat not seen in
1785-474: The Woodstock film (at Creedence frontman John Fogerty 's insistence), Creedence members have expressed bitterness over their experiences regarding the festival. Woodstock was conceived as a profit-making venture. It became a "free concert" when circumstances prevented the organizers from installing fences and ticket booths before opening day. Tickets for the three-day event cost US$ 18 in advance and $ 24 at
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#17327866655661870-645: The Bayou " to " Bad Moon Rising " and " Proud Mary ". John Fogerty had originally thought the band's performance was unworthy, but this album was finally released both on CD and as a double vinyl LP. In the years immediately following the festival, Woodstock co-producers John Roberts and Joel Rosenman, along with Robert Pilpel, wrote Young Men with Unlimited Capital: The Inside Story of the Legendary Woodstock Festival Told By The Two People Who Paid for It ,
1955-486: The Catskills had little more sanity than the impulses that drive the lemmings to march to their deaths in the sea. They ended in a nightmare of mud and stagnation ... What kind of culture is it that can produce so colossal a mess?" Coverage became more positive by the end of the festival, in part because the parents of concertgoers called the media and told them, based on their children's phone calls, that their reporting
2040-647: The Faith Festival included Pat Boone , Gene Cotton , 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 professor Robert Lyon founded the Ichthus Music Festival , which is presently the longest running Christian music festival. The Hollywood Free Paper ,
2125-546: The Family Stone , Jefferson Airplane , and Johnny Winter were released separately by Legacy / SME Records , and were also collected in a box set titled The Woodstock Experience . In August 2009, Rhino / Atlantic Records issued a six-disc box set titled Woodstock 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur's Farm , which included further musical performances as well as stage announcements and other ancillary material. In October 2009, Joe Cocker released Live at Woodstock ,
2210-606: 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 magazine editor Jon Trott later characterized it: "Cornerstone would be to Jesus festivals what Seven Up
2295-526: The Mediasound project, suggested that they contact Roberts and Rosenman about financing a similar but much smaller studio, Kornfeld, that Lang hoped to build in Woodstock , New York . Unpersuaded by this Studio-in-the-Woods proposal, Roberts and Rosenman counter-proposed a concert featuring the kind of artists known to frequent the Woodstock area, such as Bob Dylan and the Band . Kornfeld and Lang agreed to
2380-1088: The Netherlands, Seaside Festival in Norway, the Big Boss' Festival 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 , Soviet Estonia . The festival featured performances by American artists such as Sheila Walsh , Bruce Carroll , Paul Smith , and Scott Wesley Brown , and had an attendance of 15,000. This
2465-474: The Southern Hemisphere's largest Christian festival, the annual Parachute Music Festival . It attracted a large number of non-Christians. In Brazil, in the city of Fortaleza , Ceará 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
2550-466: The Town of Bethel also enacted mass gathering laws designed to prevent anymore festivals from occurring. Approximately 80 lawsuits were filed against Woodstock Ventures, primarily by farmers in the area. The movie financed settlements and paid off the $ 1.4 million of debt (equivalent to $ 11.6 million today) Roberts and Rosenman had incurred from the festival. Max Yasgur refused to rent out his farm for
2635-420: The acts who performed. A year later, Woodstock 2 was released as a 2-LP album. Both albums included recordings of stage announcements (many by Production Coordinator John Morris, e.g., "[We're told] that the brown acid is not specifically too good", "Hey, if you think really hard, maybe we can stop this rain") and crowd noises (i.e., the rain chant) between songs. In August 1994, a third album, Woodstock Diary
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2720-422: The article until the paper's executive editor, James Reston , agreed to let him write the article as he saw fit. The eventual article dealt with issues of traffic jams and minor lawbreaking, but went on to emphasize cooperation, generosity, and the good nature of the festival goers. When the festival was over, Collier wrote another article about the exodus of fans from the festival site and the lack of violence at
2805-459: The concert was engineered by lighting designer and technical director E.H. Beresford "Chip" Monck . Monck was hired to plan and build the staging and lighting, ten weeks of work for which he was paid $ 7,000 (equivalent to $ 58,000 today). Much of his plan had to be scrapped when the promoters were not allowed to use the original location in Wallkill, New York . The stage roof that was constructed in
2890-400: The country. Since the turn of the century traveling tours such as Festival Con Dios and Shout Fest have appeared. They are often similar in structure to their secular counterparts such as Vans Warped Tour or Lollapalooza , offering extreme sports and a carnival-like atmosphere. Throughout the 2000s, the attendance at United States festivals grew significantly. According to one source,
2975-542: The course of the four days: Very few reporters from outside the immediate area were on the scene. During the first few days of the festival, national media coverage emphasized the problems. Front-page headlines in the Daily News read "Traffic Uptight at Hippiefest" and "Hippies Mired in a Sea of Mud". The New York Times ran an editorial titled "Nightmare in the Catskills", which read in part, "The dreams of marijuana and rock music that drew 300,000 fans and hippies to
3060-483: The darkness, on the other edge of this bowl, there was some guy flicking his Bic, and in the night I hear, "Don't worry about it, John. We're with you." I played the rest of the show for that guy. — John Fogerty recalling Creedence Clearwater Revival 's 12:30 a.m. start time at Woodstock The festival was remarkably peaceful given the number of people and the conditions involved, although there were three recorded fatalities: two drug overdoses and another caused when
3145-486: 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
3230-509: The entire town of New Lebanon, New York , to shoot the film. He was initially concerned with not angering the locals, but they ended up being very welcoming and willing to help. The movie is based on Elliot Tiber , played by Demetri Martin , and his role in bringing Woodstock to Bethel, New York. The film also starred Jonathan Groff as Michael Lang , Daniel Eric Gold as Joel Rosenman, and Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton as Jake and Sonia Teichberg . Woodstock: Three Days That Defined
3315-423: The event on his 15- acre (6.1 ha ; 650,000 sq ft ; 61,000 m ) motel grounds, and had a permit for such an event. He claims to have introduced the promoters to dairy farmer Max Yasgur . Lang, however, disputes Tiber's account and says that Tiber introduced him to a realtor, who drove him to Yasgur's farm without Tiber. Sam Yasgur , Max's son, agrees with Lang's account. Yasgur's land formed
3400-409: The event. The chief medical officer for the event and several local residents were quoted as praising the festival goers. Middletown, New York's Times Herald-Record , the only local daily newspaper, editorialized against the law that banned the festival from Wallkill. During the festival, a rare Saturday edition was published. The paper had the only phone line running out of the site, and it used
3485-497: The festival came together, with interviews with producers clarifying some of Woodstock's myths and what it took to get many performers to attend. (Janis Joplin, for example, apparently required a personal supply of strawberries.) Two soundtrack albums were released. The first, Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More , was a 3- LP (later 2-CD) album containing a sampling of one or two songs by most of
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3570-402: The festival. Artie had been turned down everywhere else, but against the express wishes of other Warner Bros. executives, Weintraub put his job on the line and gave Kornfeld $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 830,000 today) to make the film. Woodstock helped to save Warner Bros at a time when the company was on the verge of going out of business. The book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls details the making of
3655-590: The festivals themselves. While counter-culture is generally accepted many attendees dress conservatively, and unlike their mainstream counterparts Christian music festivals are relatively free of alcohol 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 early days of the Jesus People movement Christian events were sometimes held as part of secular music festivals. As
3740-468: The film. Wadleigh rounded up a crew of about 100 from the New York film scene. With no money to pay the crew, he agreed to a double-or-nothing scheme, in which the crew would receive double pay if the film succeeded and nothing if it bombed. Wadleigh strove to make the film as much about the hippies as the music, listening to their feelings about compelling events contemporaneous with the festival (such as
3825-576: The gate (equivalent to about $ 150 and $ 200 today ). Ticket sales were limited to record stores in the greater New York City area, or by mail via a post office box at the Radio City Station Post Office located in Midtown Manhattan . Around 186,000 advance tickets were sold. The organizers had anticipated that approximately 50,000 festival-goers would turn up. The original plan was for the festival to take place in
3910-521: The genre of Jesus music gained artists, its followers began to sponsor festivals, mimicking secular events such as Woodstock and Monterey Pop Festival . One of the first events, the Youth for Christ sponsored Faith Festival, was first held in 1970 in Evansville, Indiana . The event drew enough attention that the following year it garnered coverage by CBS and attracted about 15,000. Artists at
3995-552: The half-finished stage. For the rest of the weekend, concert-goers simply walked on to the site with or without tickets. The festival left Roberts and Rosenman close to financial ruin, but their ownership of the film and recording rights turned their finances around when the Academy Award-winning documentary film Woodstock was released in March 1970. The influx of people to the rural concert site in Bethel created
4080-518: The hills and had 16 loudspeaker arrays in a square platform going up to the hill on 70-foot [21 m] towers. We set it up for 150,000 to 200,000 people. Of course, 500,000 showed up." ALTEC designed marine plywood cabinets that weighed half a ton apiece and stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, almost 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, and 3 feet (0.91 m) wide. Each of these enclosures carried four 15-inch (380 mm) JBL D140 loudspeakers. The tweeters consisted of 4×2-Cell & 2×10-Cell Altec Horns. Behind
4165-647: The late 1980s. One such festival was held in Carson, California in September 1987. The lineup was entirely Christian metal bands and included Guardian , Barren Cross , Vengeance Rising , and many smaller bands. While the members of Jesus People USA had long been involved in Christian festivals around the country, the Chicago organization founded the Cornerstone Festival in 1984, influenced by
4250-547: The many musicians, Cornerstone Festival also presented guest speakers, and featured independent/foreign film screenings, writers' seminars, and art workshops. In 2010 the festival's main stage moved to the "Midway", which is about 0.7 miles northeast of its previous location in the "bowl". The 2011 festival featured a Jesus Rally showcasing many of the groundbreaking Jesus music artists including; Servant , Daniel Amos , Randy Stonehill , Barry McGuire , Resurrection Band , Phil Keaggy , and Classic Petra . On May 15, 2012 it
4335-468: The national anthem, which became "part of the sixties Zeitgeist " after it was captured in the Woodstock film. We were ready to rock out and we waited and waited and finally it was our turn ... there were a half million people asleep. These people were out. It was sort of like a painting of a Dante scene, just bodies from hell, all intertwined and asleep, covered with mud. And this is the moment I will never forget as long as I live: A quarter mile away in
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#17327866655664420-579: The new plan, and Woodstock Ventures was formed in January 1969. The company offices were located in an oddly decorated floor of 47 West 57th Street in Manhattan. Burt Cohen and his design group, Curtain Call Productions, oversaw the psychedelic transformation of the office. From the start there were differences in approach among the four. Roberts was disciplined and knew what was needed for
4505-575: 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 , to represent their interests. LifeLight Communications started an annual LifeLight Music Festival in 1998 which now occurs over Labor Day weekend on farmland near Worthing, South Dakota . Christian music festivals now exist throughout
4590-510: The original version of the film. In 2009, the expanded 40th Anniversary Edition was released on DVD. This release marked the film's first availability on Blu-ray . Woodstock Diaries was produced by D. A. Pennebaker in 1994 as a three-part TV documentary miniseries. It was intended to commemorate Woodstock's 25th anniversary and included rare performances and interviews with many of the concert's producers, including Joel Rosenman, John Roberts and Michael Lang. Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock
4675-471: The problems and difficulty in dealing with the large crowds, recent rain had created muddy roads and fields. The facilities were not adequate to provide sanitation or first aid for the number of people attending, and hundreds of thousands found themselves in a struggle against bad weather, food shortages and poor sanitation. On the morning of Sunday, August 17, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller called festival organizer John P. Roberts and told him that he
4760-480: The project. In April 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival became the first act to sign a contract for the event, agreeing to play for $ 10,000 (equivalent to $ 83,000 in 2023 ). The promoters had experienced difficulty in landing big-name groups until Creedence committed to play. Creedence drummer Doug Clifford later commented: "Once Creedence signed, everyone else jumped in line and all the other big acts came on." Given their 12:30 am start time and omission from
4845-555: The project. Lang had some experience as a promoter, having co-organized the Miami Pop Festival on the East Coast the previous year, where an estimated 25,000 people attended the two-day event. Early in 1969, Roberts and Rosenman were New York City entrepreneurs who were in the process of building Mediasound , a recording studio complex in Manhattan. Lang and Kornfeld's lawyer, Miles Lourie, who had done legal work on
4930-539: The project. In early July, the Town Board passed a law requiring a permit for any gathering of over 5,000 people. The conditions upon which a permit would be issued made it impossible for the promoters to continue construction at the Wallkill site. Reports of the ban, however, turned out to be a publicity bonanza for the festival. In his 2007 book Taking Woodstock , Elliot Tiber relates that he offered to host
5015-476: The rain. By that point the audience numbers had fallen to about 30,000 from an estimated peak of 450,000. Many left during Hendrix's performance, having waited to catch a glimpse of him. Hendrix and his new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows were introduced as the Experience , but he corrected this and added: "You could call us a Band of Gypsies". They performed a two-hour set, including his psychedelic rendition of
5100-711: 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 Halleluya Festival has editions in several Brazilian cities such as Brasília , Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , and also outside the country as in Rome . In the United Kingdom, Delirious? keyboardist Tim Jupp founded the Big Church Festival in 2009. The Festival, which began as Big Church Day Out,
5185-428: The release of the box set was delayed, causing a backlash and dissatisfaction toward Rhino and Warner Music. More condensed versions — a ten disc deluxe set and a three disc or five LP sampler set — were also released. The full version was limited to a run of only 1,969 copies. Also released in 2019 was Live at Woodstock , an official album of all 11 songs played by Creedence Clearwater Revival, from " Born on
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#17327866655665270-492: The residents and signs proclaiming, "Buy No Milk. Stop Max's Hippy Music Festival", Bethel Town Attorney Frederick W. V. Schadt, building inspector Donald Clark and Town Supervisor Daniel Amatucci approved the festival permits, although the Bethel Town Board refused to issue the permits formally. Clark was ordered to post stop-work orders. Rosenman recalls meeting Don Clark and discussing with him how unethical it
5355-559: The search for a venue, and discovered the 300- acre (120 ha ; 0.47 sq mi ; 1.2 km ) Mills Industrial Park ( 41°28′42″N 74°21′51″W / 41.47823341524296°N 74.3641474°W / 41.47823341524296; -74.3641474 ) in the town of Wallkill, New York, which Woodstock Ventures leased for US$ 10,000 (equivalent to $ 83,000 today) in the Spring of 1969. Town officials were assured that no more than 50,000 would attend. Town residents immediately opposed
5440-409: The shorter time available was not able to support the lighting that had been rented, which wound up sitting unused underneath the stage. The only light on the stage was from spotlights. Monck used twelve 1300 Watt Super Trouper follow spots rigged on four towers around the stage. The follow spots weighed 600 pounds (270 kg) each and were operated by spotlight operators who had to climb up on
5525-420: The site, spoke of how nearly half a million people had spent the three days with music and peace on their minds. He stated, "If we join them, we can turn those adversities that are the problems of America today into a hope for a brighter and more peaceful future". Sound for the concert was engineered by sound engineer Bill Hanley . "It worked very well", he said of the event. "I built special speaker columns on
5610-618: The stage were three transformers providing 2,000 amperes of current to power the amplification setup. For many years this system was collectively referred to as the Woodstock Bins . The live performances were captured on two 8-track Scully recorders in a tractor trailer backstage by Edwin Kramer and Lee Osbourne on 1-inch Scotch recording tape at 15 ips, then mixed at the Record Plant studio in New York. Lighting for
5695-463: The summer season. The same article described the artists who appeared at a Santa Barbara, California event, including Gentle Faith , Tom Howard , Ron Salsbury, The Bridge, and Randy Stonehill , as being "veterans of Jesus rock festivals". 1972 is seen as a pivotal year for Christian music festivals due to a crusade and evangelism training event called Explo '72 , held in Dallas, Texas . Explo
5780-404: The top of the 60-foot-high (18 m) lighting towers. Monck also was drafted just before the concert started as the master of ceremonies when Michael Lang noticed he had forgotten to hire one. He can be heard and seen in recordings of Woodstock making the stage announcements, including requests to "stay off the towers" and the warning about the " brown acid ". Thirty-two acts performed over
5865-518: The town of Woodstock . Billed as "an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" and alternatively referred to as the Woodstock Rock Festival , it attracted an audience of more than 460,000. Thirty-two acts performed outdoors despite overcast and sporadic rain. It was one of the largest music festivals in history and became synonymous with the counterculture of the 1960s . The festival has become widely regarded as
5950-519: The town of Woodstock on a site owned by Alexander Tapooz. After local residents rejected that idea, Lang and Kornfeld thought they had found another possible location at the Winston Farm in Saugerties, New York . But they were mistaken, as the landowner's attorney made clear in a brief meeting with Roberts and Rosenman. Growing alarmed at the lack of progress, Roberts and Rosenman took over
6035-406: The venture to succeed, while the laid-back Lang saw Woodstock as a new, "relaxed" way of bringing entrepreneurs together. When Lang was unable to find a site for the concert, Roberts and Rosenman, growing increasingly concerned, took to the road and found a venue. Similar differences about financial discipline made Roberts and Rosenman wonder whether to pull the plug or to continue pumping money into
6120-472: The world. The Jesus Music Greenbelt festival , 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 , Freakstock , Himmelfahrt-Festival and Rock Without Limits. In greater Europe notable festivals include Flevo and EO-Youth Day in
6205-606: Was a member of the Christian Festival Association . From 1984 to 1990, Cornerstone was held at the Lake County Fairgrounds near Grayslake, Illinois . In 1991, Cornerstone moved near the town of Bushnell (outside Macomb ) where the organizers of the festival purchased a large piece of land, which is now called "Cornerstone Farm". Tens of thousands of people attended Cornerstone Farm each year and saw over 300 bands play many styles of music, including rock , metal , punk , hardcore and pop music . In addition to
6290-506: 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 to "safe, middle-of-the-road acts." The Jesus Festival , which
6375-474: Was also released in August 1994, featuring only selected recordings of Jimi Hendrix at the festival. In July 1999, MCA Records released Live at Woodstock , an expanded, double disc set featuring nearly every song of Hendrix's performance, omitting just two pieces that were sung by his rhythm guitarist Larry Lee . In June 2009, complete performances from Woodstock by Santana , Janis Joplin , Sly &
6460-482: Was announced that the 2012 Festival would be the last. The final song performed at Cornerstone, on July 7, 2012, was "To Bid Farewell" performed by Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong of The Choir . The festival ceased due to budgetary reasons. 40°31′53.00″N 90°26′12.00″W / 40.5313889°N 90.4366667°W / 40.5313889; -90.4366667 Christian music festival Though Christian music festivals had been held prior to it, 1972
6545-494: Was for him to withhold permits which had already been authorized, and which he had in his pocket. At the end of the meeting, Inspector Clark gave him the permits. The Stop Work Order was lifted, allowing the festival to proceed pending backing by the Department of Health and Agriculture, and removal of all structures by September 1, 1969. The late change in venue did not give the festival organizers enough time to prepare. At
6630-405: 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 . The conservative owners, who wanted a family oriented music festival, found the music "a little too racy" and fired him. The following year at the same festival, Randy Matthews was chased off stage by
6715-402: Was misleading. The New York Times covered the prelude to the festival and the move from Wallkill to Bethel. Barnard Collier, who reported from the event for The New York Times , asserted that he was pressured by on-duty editors at the paper to write a misleadingly negative article about the event. According to Collier, this led to acrimonious discussions and his threat to refuse to write
6800-410: Was produced in 2005 as two-disc set that included all available footage of Hendrix's Woodstock performance in two different edits. The release also included a mini-documentary with members of Hendrix's band, and footage of a September 1969 news conference where he discussed his Woodstock set. Taking Woodstock was produced in 2009 by Taiwanese American filmmaker Ang Lee . Lee practically rented out
6885-420: Was released, containing music not included on the earlier two albums. Tracks from all three albums, as well as numerous additional, previously unreleased performances from the festival (but not the stage announcements and crowd noises) were reissued by Atlantic, also in August 1994, as a four compact disc box set titled Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music . An album titled Jimi Hendrix: Woodstock
6970-725: Was reported to be the first such festival. In 1992, after the Fall of the Iron Curtain , a Christian music festival was held in St. Petersburg , Russia . 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 . The shows, which were organized by Youth With A Mission , sold out 10,000 tickets well in advance. From 1992–2014, New Zealand hosted
7055-567: Was sponsored by the World Conference on Missions and Campus Crusade for Christ . 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 as a "religious Woodstock ." The Explo '72 roster contained artists in a variety of genres including performers Larry Norman , Love Song, Andrae Crouch , and Johnny Cash . Explo '72
7140-423: Was thinking of ordering 10,000 National Guard troops to the festival site, but Roberts persuaded him not to. Sullivan County declared a state of emergency. During the festival, personnel from nearby Stewart Air Force Base helped to ensure order and air-lifted performers in and out of the site. Jimi Hendrix was the last to perform at the festival, taking the stage at 8:30 Monday morning after delays caused by
7225-483: Was to cola : the unfestival ." Their slogan in 1984 was "More Rock And Roll Than Anyone Has Dared"; Artists included Kerry Livgren , Resurrection Band , The Choir , Joe English , and the Sweet Comfort Band . 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
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