CREATION NORTHEAST 2011 will be held June 29 to July 2, 2011 at the Agape Farm near Mt. Union, Pennsylvania. The farm has become a second home to the tens of thousands who travel to the festival each year to attend, camp and to be spiritually enriched. Creation’s theme is “A Tribute to Our Creator.” From the moment you step on to the grounds and set up your camp, there is a sense that this place and this time is about Jesus. At times it feels like a family gathering because you get to meet and have fellowship with people from all over the globe who love the Lord. There are many activities, games, music and speakers, and of course those special times of fellowshipping with friends at your campfire.

A typical day starts at 9:00 am and concludes at 11:30 pm. This year’s MAIN STAGE artists include some of the hottest bands in Christian music, with a wide variety of musical styles. Creation also provides inspiring speakers who will help in your spiritual walk. Other highlights include fan favorites such as communion, candle lighting, baptism, artists meet & greet, fireworks, extreme sports and the like. The FRINGE STAGE is a place to rock out with the best alternative and up-and-coming bands. The WORSHIP STAGE features worship artists who give you time to worship the Lord while providing free workshops and worship materials. THE KID’S STAGE ensures that young children have a good time with music, puppets, animals, games, face painting and more. A night at Creation 2011 is rounded out with the LATE NIGHT CAFE STAGE, which winds down the day in an intimate setting and boasts of singers and comedians along with some coffee and donuts!

This year, NewReleaseTuesday.com is planning extensive partnerships and presence at both Creation Northeast as well as Creation Northwest, taking place July 20-23rd in Washington. As NRT finalizes marketing and plans for the festival, our prayer here at NRT for the Creation festivals is that people will be changed, restored, and encouraged to serve the Lord while wanting to make a difference in this world.

Four staff members from NRT will be in attendance all four days of Creation Northeast, including NRT Founder Kevin McNeese who will have a NRT booth with fun contests, giveaways and a Creation 2011 scavenger hunt. Also attending will be NRT podcast host Bill Lurwick, who will be conducting artist interviews and writing feature articles along with me and NRT photographer David Holzemer. If you are attending either festival, come look for us at our booth as we’re excited to meet as many people in person as possible.

I had the great chance to interview Adam Grosze of Beckon Entertainment (Creation Festivals Marketing and Publicity) about what to expect this year at the festival and I also spoke with NRT Founder Kevin McNeese about giving us all a sneak peak into their involvement in this year's Creation Festivals.

Adam, what can we look out for that's new this year at Creation? Please describe the mission and ministry focus of the event.

Adam Grosze: Creation's mission has always been to reach the lost and to offer a safe, family friendly environment where people of all ages can come and worship our Creator with other believers, families and friends.

We are debuting a new worship experience at Creation this year called The Project Experience. This experience allows Creation fans to step into a world that is so far from our understanding, the world of poverty, slavery, and injustice.

Regarding Owl City and Lecrae, I'm excited to see these talented best-selling artists at Creation NE. Does the festival hope to attract some new fans with these high profile artists and how do they each fit the mission of the festival?

Adam: Definitely. We try to bring some of the best and most talented artists to Creation each year and we love having a diverse lineup. But, it's not just for the purpose of "new fans." More importantly, it's for the ministry opportunity that artists like this provide. I think bringing in guys like Lecrae and Owl City provide us chance to reach those who may have never heard the gospel before, are afraid to step in the doors of church, but will come to Creation and have that opportunity because they want to see Owl City or Lecrae perform.


Regarding Skillet and Family Force 5, I love that these bands who have each had mainstream success are on the main stage along with CCM heavyweights Third Day, tobyMac, Newsboys and Chris Tomlin. Please describe the artist selection process and overall daily ministry options including speakers, other music stages and special events.

Adam: The lineup for each year is something that is always fun to plan. We want our fans to walk away feeling like they had a chance to worship, rock out, hangout and be entertained. We want them walking away feeling refreshed, renewed and already excited for their next chance to come back. The music selection is a huge part of the experience. After the festival each year, we do a survey asking our fans who their favorites are and who they'd like to see the following year. We try to book as many of those as possible, while bringing in some new acts to keep our fans aware of some of the emerging artists. We are constantly getting feedback from our fans on Facebook (facebook.com/creationfest) and Twitter (@creationfest) and are continually trying to update our Twitter and Facebook fans about each artist so people can really get to know them better before they even hear them at the festival. 

This year we have some of the fan favorites like tobyMac, Skillet, Third Day, Newsboys, Tomlin, Crowder, Switchfoot, etc. But, we tried to mix it up a bit and offer some fresh faces to Creation like Owl City, Shine Bright Baby, Chris August, Manafest, and more. We also have some amazing speakers this year with guys like Nick Vujicic, who's testimony about living life despite being born with no arms or legs will blow you away.

Camping, the extreme zone, fireworks and more all help make Creation an experience unlike no other.

Kevin, can you share with us how NRT is planning to be involved in both Creation East and West this year?

Kevin McNeese: We have been blessed with establishing an amazing relationship with the staff at Creation and we're excited to be putting all of our focus this summer towards Christian East and West. They really are some of the biggest Christian music festivals in the nation, and they are so well run overflowing with ministry at every turn, so it just makes sense for us to be there.

This is the first time NRT will have a booth at an event and I can't wait to get out there and meet Christian music fans from all over the nation! We've put a lot of energy designing an amazing, interactive setup that will reward those who stop by and give people an experience they haven't had before. I don't want to spoil everything, but it involves iPads, HDTVs, thousands of giveaways and possibly a surprise visit from an artist or two.

We recently set everything up at our offices, so here's a sneak peak at our Creation booth!