. It was a two day festival that featured a lot of great Christian bands. Aside from the music there was a speaker who was very good and had a message that was really focused on the youth. In addition to the music and the speaker, there was a lot of activities focused again on the youth which was nice to see.
It allowed me and my wife to enjoy the live music while the kids could go play games, climb a climbing wall or participate in some arts and crafts. All in all it was your typical Christian Festival. I have been attending these festivals for many many years and each year it feels like there are more and more of these events turning up. This is all good in that it provides a good family friendly environment and gives the youth an opportunity to invite friends to a non threatening environment where they will hear the gospel message of Christ's love for us.
Another thing I noticed was the number of vendors selling Christian themed merchandise. This appears to be a growing industry as there were vendors there selling everything from Christian themed Jewelry to Christian T Shirts . I would say that over half of the vendors were selling Christian T Shirts. They usually had some catchy phrases or Christian message to convey. I was also amazed at how many people were wearing these shirts.
Now of course I was at a Christian Festival so it should not be too surprising that many people were wearing these shirts. The question that kept running through my mind was whether or not these same people were wearing their Christian T Shirts at secular events, work or school. I wonder if it is "safer" to declare you are a Christian when you are among other Christians in a safe environment. I have seen people wear such shirts at events that were not necessarily Christian. Food for thought, if we as Christians can be as bold when we are outside the safe cocoon of a Christian Festival, would the world be any different?