Creation Festival 2002

The Crowd of 70,000 + of Creation Festival 2002 from my campsite
Creation 2002 was my first year at this festival that comes to the mountains of Pennsylvania at the end of every June. I had heard plenty about it, and was ready to get there. Let me tell you, this festival does not dissapoint. Putting the impressive number of people who attend aside, the life-changing experience that I went through throughout my first year at Creation was unbelievable.
 
The Preparation
  
So, it was Wednesday morning, getting ready to finish packing our items, and our first test is at hand. The cargo-holder ontop of our SUV is in place, but the cable that was supposed to keep it from rolling off broke. I was getting the feeling that this was going to be too much hassle to get to, but we ended up finding a way to get it to hook together. Now, I sure would have missed a lot if I would have stayed home, but we were on our way.

Then came the line. Yes, that 2-3 hour line before you even get into the gate of Creation, but that was the instant I was hooked. Before we even got within a mile of the Agape Farm, I was outside smelling the country air and meeting new friends, and the festival hadn't even started! Well, after what turned out to be a rather entertaining 3 hours, we entered to our campsite, which was already set up since half of our group went the day before, now, it was time for the festival!
 
Wednesday
  
I forget the exact order of all of these artists, but Cross Movement opened up the festival with a high-energy, gospel-flavored rap show, followed by what can't be classified, tobyMac. Toby put on one great show. I had never heard his solo projects (he is 1/3 of DC Talk), but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of gospel he put into the show, while having a good time. After just this first two hours, I knew this was something I liked. I was thinking, "Atleast these people knew that Christians can learn while having a good time!"


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After a break for the nightly speaker, Brad Stine entertained us with a nice Christian Comedy set. He also set a point in my head, you can be funny without cursing rampantly, and he really was the funniest comedian I have ever seen. Then, it was on to the oddly scheduled night. Point of Grace was playing a show, but was followed by the high-energy rock of Audio Adrenaline. Audio Adrenaline kept the crowd on their toes and didn't keep Christ out of the festival, as their encore was dedicated to reminding us of God's forgiveness to us, in the name of Jesus Christ.


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That could have been a good festival altogether for me, but then they surprised me with a fireworks display to close the evening. Whew, time for Day 2!
 
Thursday
  
Obviously, I didn't get the memo Thursday morning, because being so close to the stage, the "Running of the Bulls" siren at 5:45 became the wake-up call for me. I would have enjoyed a little more sleep, after starting into bed at 1:30 after the late night stage, but I made the best of it. After listening to Ten Shekel Shirt from my campsite, I went over to listen to Ceili Rain, who surprised me with some great music. After that, we wandered around the arena area, getting pictures of the stage.


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After that, it was already time to head over to the Fringe Stage for Pillar! We got there in the middle of The Benjamin Gate's set, and they also surprised me with some upbeat rock and roll. I ended up purchasing their new release after Pillar. Of course, after The Benjamin Gate, it was time for Pillar. I had seen them before, but this was a great concert. Other than the fact that a few people caused a little bit of trouble with moshing, it was never a big problem at all. It seemed like security was always ready to weed out the few that wished to take things a bit too far. After Pillar, we went for the speaker at the Main Stage, and after that, decided to take a break. It was obvious we weren't yet cut out for the marathan of music... or maybe we shouldn't have stood up the whole time. Either way, we were tired. Most interestingly, after Pillar played, we were at the X-Games area, and we saw the lead singer to Third Day jousting!


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After a few hours of rest, it was time to head down for the highlight of the day, the O.C. Supertones! After the weather flared up, we got to see a wet and wild Supertones performance, complete with worship and teaching by Dan, the trombone player. Then, came the evening speaker, and we decided to move back and take a seat for Kirk Franklin and Third Day. They aren't my favorite studio artists, but in concerts, they rocked the arena with great music and most importantly, great worship!


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Friday
  
As usual, 5:45 marked my wake up. I decided, since I was up that early, that I'd go for a much needed shower, and luckily, I beat the rush by about 15 minutes, not having to wait in line at all. After that, and breakfast, Paul Colman Trio was worshipping at the Main Stage. After that, I took the short trip back to my campsite for an hour, and took a rest until 1:00. That was when Skillet began their always-exciting performance. Incorporating worship into a hard rock show is something that is seldom done, but Skillet once again did it well. After Skillet, Relient K was right up next. Relient K offers some good music on cd, but I didn't enjoy their concert too much. The stage presence just wasn't there.


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By then, it was 3PM and it was time to sit and recouperate while listening to another refreshing speaker at the Fringe Stage. Since we were over there, we stayed and casually listened to Rock and Roll Worship Circus, while playing at the X-Games area. Then, it was time for Beanbag. Another in our group told me I should listen to them, so I gave them a try. They obviously have their niche, but that style of music just isn't to my tastes.


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After a dinner break and the evening message, it was time for the highlight of the week, Michael W. Smith. Delirious played before him at 9PM, offering classic modern worship songs in their typical style. Michael W. Smith was playing music off of his Worship album which was released a few months earlier. It definately was a powerful experience which I would love to see again as soon as possible. After his concert, while they were setting up for the candlelight service, we ran up the mountain to the lookout, where we met a crowd. Once we got our turn in the lookout, we got to view the 70,000+ candles burning with a glorious view from the top of the mountain. What an experience! After that, it's hard to imagine that Saturday could be any better... but as I've learned already this week, I always seem to be surprised.


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