April 23, 2024

Fun in the Son Festival debuts Saturday

The Christian music festival will be held in McKinley Park and features three bands.

By SCOTT VICKER

Pictured is Second Chance, one of two local Christian bands performing Saturday at the inaugural Fun in the Son Festival in McKinley Park, along with national touring Christian rock band We Are Vessel. Pictured are, front row, from left, John Carter, John Steinbach, Madalyne Greene, Jennifer Hoyt and Angie Rounds. Pictured, in back, from left are David Livingston, Aaron Young and Dr. Chuck Hoyt. Not pictured is Jim McIntosh. (Contributed photo)

A new music event will be held in McKinley Park Saturday.

Fun in the Son Festival will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the McKinley Park bandshell and features We Are Vessel, Second Chance and Sondogs.

“We’ve always talked about having something else in the summertime in the park,” said John Carter, lead guitarist for Second Chance. “Of course, we play Christian music. We thought it might be good to have a Christian concert.”

The festival includes free admission and concessions will be available from The Little Green Trailer and the Believe Guatemala missionary group. The park benches will be set up, but those attending are encouraged to bring their own seating, as well.

We Are Vessel is a national touring modern worship Christian rock band from Waycross, Georgia. The band features Randall Broadhead on lead vocals and guitar, Jacob Gholson on guitar and vocals, Dalton Creach on bass and vocals and Austin Lane on drums.

The group, which recently opened for MercyMe and will be playing in St. Joseph, Missouri, on Friday, played at Crest Baptist Church in Creston last year for the Celebrate Recovery group.

That performance led to Fun in the Son Festival, as Dr. Chuck Hoyt got the band’s booking information and booked the band.

Second Chance and Sondogs are both local bands, with Second Chance based out of Creston and Sondogs based out of Afton.

Second Chance includes John Steinbach on rhythm guitar, John Carter on lead guitar, Jennifer Hoyt on piano, Dr. Chuck Hoyt on bass, Madelyn Greene and Angie Rounds on vocals, Jim McIntosh on harmonica and David Livingston on drums. Aaron Young works the sound booth for the band.

Sondogs features Robert Thatcher on vocals, John Thatcher on guitar and vocals, Charlie Hale on guitar, Steve Thatcher on bass and Nathaniel Thatcher on drums.

“It’s different than what we see around here a lot of the time,” Carter said. “Our hope is that we can continue to do this annually like Party in the Park and maybe have more (bands) as it grows, that we could have some mainline Christian bands to come and perform.”

Each band will perform for about an hour, with an hour in between each set where different speakers will deliver a message about the gospel.

Carter and Steinbach hope this new festival brings people together in unison.

“We’re really hoping the area churches and surrounding churches take an active part in this, as well,” Steinbach said. “This is all about honoring God and bringing praise to him.”

Carter said local churches are invited to bring information about their churches to the event.

“We want a good turnout, a good church presence,” Carter said. “We hope others who may not know Jesus might be able to find some salvation or some way to get closer to Him or some way to connect with a church body that could connect with them in their growth spiritually.

“Just come out and enjoy it with us. This is our first year, so we’re trying to figure out how to do it. We hope to encourage the community and uplift our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think that’s important. It’s not just all about the music. It’s deeper than that. The music is a vehicle to get people closer to God. That’s the most important thing, especially in today’s world. We need some love, peace and joy.”