Faith concert scheduled
Thousands of attendees plan to attend Christian festival at College of the Canyons
Nearly 5,000 people will attend Glory Festival held at College of the Canyons June 16. It is the largest Christian music festival in Santa Clarita and will feature bestselling Christian bands, including Casting Crowns.
For many, the simple idea of having a large Christian music festival with renowned artists in Santa Clarita is exciting. For Tom and Kariann Hollenbeck, Glory Festival is where they first met and began their journey toward love.
Kariann had attended Heart of the Canyons Church for several years when Glory event organizers asked church attendees to volunteer at the Glory Festival in 2016.
She was originally scheduled to work a food booth, but was later assigned to the VIP tent. While volunteering, she met Tom, who was volunteering as security for the event.
“If it wasn’t for Glory, we would have never met,” said Kariann. “How it all worked out was pretty amazing.”
The two struck up a conversation, made plans to attend another Christian concert several weeks later, and by September that year they were married.
Barry McKeever, Event Director, said stories like that are common at Glory Festival. He’s seen weddings and healing come about after the festival, chalking up the changes to God working in the attendees.
“The goal of our event was to bring Christians together,” said McKeever. “This isn’t about one individual church. We put aside our denominations and doctrine and bring the body of Christ together.”
Glory Festival was initially started in 2015 and had about 1,500 attendees at Central Park. Since then, the festival has grown to include nearly 5,000 people and moved to Cougar Stadium at College of the Canyons.
McKeever and other event organizers take pride in bringing popular Christian music groups that perform quality music. They feel the event is really for everyone, not just Christians or those who listen to Christian music.
“We want to bring top talent to Santa Clarita and make it a great experience for everyone,” said McKeever. “It’s really about great music and a great experience.”
This year, popular Christian band Casting Crowns will headline the festival, with performances by Third Day’s Mac Powell, Jordan Feliz, Hollyn, and Zach Williams.
Headliner Mac Powell of the band Third Day is scheduled to perform solo at the festival this year.
Recently, Powell completed two country music albums in addition to the contemporary Christian music he writes and performs with Third Day.
“When I was searching for answers to questions about life, I looked to God and found my faith,” said Powell in an interview last week about his song writing inspiration. “I wanted to express my faith through music and to this day I still love making that music.”
Powell is currently working on his third solo country album and explained crossing genres helps him to grow, both as a writer and musician. He also explained that is why a festival like Glory can be a great experience for artists and concertgoers
“It keeps us from being stagnant,” he said. “This type of festival is great because there are so many artists and the diversity of music is amazing.”
He also explained he hopes attendees not only enjoy the time at the festival, but also feel inspired.
“I want them to be encouraged in faith and life in general,” Powell said. “We all have a purpose and reason for being here. I just want to share my heart, struggle pain, victory and overcoming things like that. It’s a message of encouragement.”
For more information visit GlorySCV.org.