Organizers were pleased with the results of the inaugural Light Up Prince Albert Festival that was held from Aug. 14-16 at the Prince Albert Exhibition Grounds.
Committee chair Cindy Koob said their goal was to have a Christian festival that was safe, family-friendly, and free to the public, while also inspiring attendees to overcome any hardships they face. Koob said the results were great.
“The weather cooperated. We had a rough start on Thursday, but yesterday (Friday) it all came together so well,” Koob said. “We had so many good people take the stage yesterday.”
She said that Friday’s speakers, which included Chase Sinclair and Denny Heathen, were amazing.
“Chase and Denny were absolute powerhouses last night. There were people dancing and just so touched by their messages,” she said.
Heathen’s address was called Broken Chains.
“He’s come out of the dark, let me tell you,” Koob said. “His world was so dark, but it is so beautiful now. He has his own band, his own church, and he just had everybody on fire last night, and Chase was amazing.”
Other speakers on Friday included Mark Sorell speaking on the Good Shepherd and Dwayne Flamand.
She also said that the music by Life Song was wonderful.
“We just had a great day,” she said. “The children had a lot of fun (with) the bouncy castles face painting they had. The crowd was great yesterday.
“We estimate we fed 300 people, probably more than 300,” she added.
Saturday opened with the Walk for Jesus from the Redeemed Christian Church of the God-Victory Temple on 12th Street eventually making its way down 10th Street back to the Exhibition Grounds.
“(It was) totally joyful,” Koob said. “(It was) just a wonderful March. We even had a little dance together. It’s really festive. It’s really fun. It’s all family oriented.
“The biggest thing for us is our theme has been ‘We walk together in the love of Jesus Christ’ and everybody came together and has come together as community and the community is as diverse as the community we live in.”
She said that the people taking part had diverse backgrounds.
“But we’re all together in the love of Jesus Christ and we’re here to love each other and support each other, cheer each other on,” she said.
Along with that the event dealt with serious issues facing the city. Koob said they wanted to encourage and help Prince Albert residents who are want to leave gangs, are victims of violence and trauma, or struggling with addiction
“We’re just looking to encourage them and to build our communities and to prosper our communities,” Koob said.
Being their first event as a non-profit, Koob said they had no idea what was in store.
“It’s been a labour of love and definitely a new adventure, but the people are coming and so much love,” she said.
There was free food, bouncy castles, children’s programming, free movie nights for the kids and something for everyone.
Koob said that even though this the first event they were already contemplating a second.
“We’re hoping that this is going to outlive us and be an annual event, and that it’ll just get better and better,” she said. “I don’t know about the same week…. We were kind of hoping for July initially, but planning takes time.”
She said it was a brand new venture with people still getting to know each other.
“We all have different backgrounds. It’s actually pretty incredible how well we work together, but there is a lot to figure out with your first time,” she said. “Next year, we believe it’s going to be really amazing. There’s I don’t know how many churches involved … and we expect there will be more churches coming on.
“The church community has come together to love on people and to walk together. We hope that after this weekend, no one walks alone because you know there are people struggling,” Koob added.
“To have people around you if you don’t have a family, if this isn’t your home community to have people around that say, ‘hey, we want to come alongside and support you to help you come out of violence, to come out of trauma and to come into a place of health so you can prosper. That’s what we really want.’”
Koob thanked all of the individuals and businesses who sponsored the event, a number of churches in Prince Albert who also supported the event.
“The heart of the festival is love,” Koob said.
