Creation Festival, the largest Christian Music and teaching Festival in the United States, marked its 30th Anniversary the end of June by honoring the past and looking to the future. The four-day celebration saw special tributes and performances, including a surprise appearance from Amy Grant. The Festival also carried out its mission to impact lives, seeing over 4300 attendees visit the Prayer Tent, 238 get baptized and more than 1400 Compassion Children sponsored.

Throughout the past 30 years all of the top Christian artists have graced the Creation Festival stage, with many careers launched at the event. The Festival took time to pay tribute to some of those artists during this special anniversary. Luminaries Keith Green and Larry Norman were remembered with special video montages chronicling their performances at Creation and their impact on the Christian music industry as a whole and guitar legend Phil Keaggy marked the 30-year anniversary of the release of his album The Master And The Musician with a special performance. The Newsboys presented Pastor Harry Thomas, Festival co-founder, with a special guitar as a thank you for the part Creation has played in the band’s success, while many other artists shared special memories and acknowledgements from stage.

The highlight of the event was a surprise performance from Christian and pop music icon, Amy Grant. Grant has a special place in the history of the Festival, as the beloved Friday night candle lighting began during her performance in 1983. Just as she and her band were about to take the stage, an underground transformer blew and all power was lost. While she led the crowd in singing praise choruses, Pastor Harry remembered some candles that were in storage, so those were distributed to everyone and a tradition began! This year Grant returned to play a short set, featuring an exclusive performance of “One Little Miracle”, a duet she recorded with Hawk Nelson, and also lead candle lighting alongside Paul Baloche.

“It was totally amazing to stand on the stage and see so many candles declaring the light of Christ in the believer. I never get tired of seeing that beauty and the vivid statement that we are a ‘city set on a hill,’” explains Thomas. “Paul and Amy led us in a wonderful time of worship. Even with wax running down your hand to your elbow, you did not want that moment to end. One thing for sure, It was an unforgettable spiritual moment.”

Newer artists like Switchfoot, Chris Tomlin, Kutless, David Crowder Band, Skillet, Jeremy Camp and Flyleaf gave amazing performances, laying the groundwork for the next 30 years of the Creation Festival.

In addition to featuring great music, the Creation Festival is also committed to impacting lives through the event. Creation uses the tagline, “It will be the highlight of your summer, maybe your life” and, as in the past, that rang true for many attendees. Throughout the weekend, the Festival saw over 4300 people come to the prayer tent for salvation and various needs, and on Saturday 238 people were baptized.

Pastor Harry Thomas adds, “Nothing thrills me more than seeing people follow Christ. Our prayer tent was overflowing daily with people making commitments. There had to be 2,000 people gathered to watch the baptisms at the pond - tears of joy and new life in Jesus! We give God all the glory and pray for every person's decision to be sealed by His Holy Spirit.”

Compassion International, the premier Christian child advocacy ministry, has been a partner with Creation for 25 years, seeing the lives of more than 30,000 children impacted by commitments attendees make at the event. This year alone, more than 1400 Compassion children were sponsored!

“It is always a humbling experience to see the work God is doing in the lives of so many people, and to see new and old faces in Christian music return with such impact!” explains Mark Hanlon, Senior Vice President of Compassion International USA. “Compassion is so blessed to have a quarter century long relationship in an event that truly involves ordinary people in the everyday lives of children affected by poverty. We know that another 25 years of dedicated, successful partnership with Creation will result in saving innumerable numbers of children around the world!”

VideoRocket, the leading faith-based online resource for audio and video content, chronicled many of the happenings at Creation Northeast 2008 and posted video online for all to enjoy. To see exclusive interviews and behind the scenes content as well as the Keith Green and Larry Norman tributes, please visit www.VideoRocket.com.

For more information about the Creation Festivals or to obtain information about attending Creation Northwest July 23-26, go to www.CreationFest.com.