Soulfest kicks off for its 20th year

The Eastern Nazarene College group of “soulfesters” from Quincy, Mass., get into their groove for Juniper, the first band to take the Main Stage at Gunstock’s Soulfest 2017 yesterday afternoon.  (Karen Bobotas/for The Laconia Daily Sun)

By THOMAS P. CALDWELL, LACONIA DAILY SUN

GILFORD — Soulfest opened at Gunstock Mountain Resort yesterday for its 20th season, with some 10,000 people attending, according to Dan Russell, co-founder and producer of the event.

The multi-day Christian music festival actually got underway on Wednesday with a kickoff concert featuring Jars of Clay, The Violet Burning, Russell and Rachel Taylor.

Yesterday’s crowd included 1,000 children who were 10 and younger, qualifying for free admission, Russell said. He anticipated having 500 more attendees arriving today (Friday), and 12,000 attending on Saturday.

Putting on the event requires 500 staff members and 400 volunteers, Russell said, noting that there were 500 non-paying guests.

Soulfest began in 1998 at Loon Mountain in Lincoln and moved to Gunstock in 2004 where it has remained since then.

Described as a “faith-based, social-justice music festival,” the event includes performances and other activities on five stages, with musical groups that range from praise and worship music to solo and rock bands. The event also includes speakers addressing a number of topics relating to music, love and action.

Bands performing yesterday included For King & Country, Tenth Avenue North, Jars of Clay, Moriah Peters, Christopher Williams, Tedashii, Ryan Stevenson, and Juniper.

On today’s schedule are Matthew West, Rend Collective, Matt Maher, Randy Stonehill, Peter Furler Band, The Violet Burning, Mari, Propaganda, and Damian.

In an earlier interview, Russell said, “Music is sort of the conduit through which we want to convey a message, which is, if you believe in God as omnipresent — everywhere — and you believe God is love, then that love is everywhere.”

He said tickets are still available for those wishing to attend the event, which runs through Saturday.

The Panorama lift brought visitors to the summit for the Mountain Top acoustic stage featuring the Hannah Dawber Band. (Karen Bobotas/for The Laconia Daily Sun)

Chloe and Abbie show off their henna tattoos while waiting for Juniper to take the main stage as Soulfest 2017 gets underway. (Karen Bobotas/for The Laconia Daily Sun)