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are a lot of big or major moments in the history of the festival.
I'm sure there are many that are not included here. This is just
a sample.
Candles,
Candles, and More Candles
Each
year a candle lighting service is held after one of the evening programs.
Imagine a dark hill slowly beginning to light until 60,000+ candles are
burning brightly. If you are in the front, the view looking back
is incredible. This tradition actually began in 1984(?). During
Amy Grant's performance, electricity was lost. The staff quickly
remembered the thousands of candles stored under the stage.(e-mail if you
recall the the reason why they had so many candles stored under the stage)
They were retrieved and passed out. The candles were lit and Amy
continued her set on acoustic guitar. The candle lighting is now
a yearly tradition.
Michael!
Michael
W. Smith is one of the biggest names to be a part of the festival.
He first came to Creation as the keyboardist for Amy Grant.
Soon after, he appeared as a solo artist and has been a part of the festival
ever since. In 94 Michael brought his acoustic concert to Creation
which was in part a celebration of 10 years in Christian Music.
Happy Birthday
Creation
was birthed in 1979 and will be 25 years old in 2003. If Christ doesn't
return in the next 25 years, let's hope Creation is there for another quarter
century.
Oi , Oi,
Oi
The Newsboys have been a part of the festival for a number years now.
They have been there every year that I have gone. They actually made
their first Creation appearance as campers. They brought their equipment
and were chased around the farm as they attempted to set up and play.
A year later they were invited to play the main stage and the rest is history.
The higher powers of Creation generally know a good band when they see
one.
Come in
DC Copter
At
Creation 92, DC Talk took their performance and the festival to new heights,
literally. As the opener for their concert, they flew in on a helicopter
while communicating with the audience over the sound system. They
landed on the left side of the stage and shortly after, launched into their
set, which included a preview of the then, newly recorded Free at Last
album.
Speaking
of New Heights
In
97, the encore of Audio Adrenaline's closing concert on Thursday night
was topped off by fireworks in the sky and pyrotechnics on stage.
A fireworks display is actually in the program for this year.
Television
In
96 at Hershey, another amazing thing that took place was that a video documentary
of the festival was made. It has since been shown on public television.
We saw it on a station in Grand Rapids, MI.
Deliriou5
In
98 Creation put a lot of hype into the United States debut a not too well
known band from England called Delirious. Of all the shows I have
seen where I didn't know the band or the music, that one was in class by
itself. They are of course one of the most popular groups today.
Creation
Festival: The Movie
In
99, Creation and Sparrow Records teamed up to produce a full fledged movie
about the festival. It covers every aspect of the festival you could
imagine. It includes interview footage from artists, staffers, local
farmers, and other involved with festival as well musical performances
from the Newsboys, DCTalk, Michael W. Smith, and others. This is
a great way to learn more about the festival or to share the festival with
someone who has never been. It is a must have for anyone who has
been there. You might even find yourself in it!
The Larry
Norman Incident
During
his performance in 99 he went off on a rant on the helicopter swooping
down over the crowd, literally speaking to the people in the helicopter
as if they were only there to get a few pictures for a newspaper or some
video for a tv story. He basically accused them of not knowing what
was really going on at Creation and challanged them to come down and find
out; to spend some quality time at the festival. You have to wonder
what Larry said when he found out the real reason the helicopter was flying
overhead. They were not curious media people from a newspaper
or tv station, they were cameramen taking footage for the Creation movie. |
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