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Mother Nature wallops Ichthus, again

June 11, 2008|Tyler Young

The administrators of the Ichthus Festival finally buckled down two years ago and decided to move the festival to June instead of April. That decision came on the heels of a frightful weekend that saw extreme heat, a tornado and snow strike the Wilmore event in back-to-back-to-back days.

Ichthus has perennially been hammered by bad weather, but all of that was put behind festivalgoers last year when the concert series saw a problem-free June weekend.

But it seems Murphy and his law could not be kept at bay for long, and bad weather showed its face again in 2008, albeit three days before the event was scheduled to begin.

Storms swept through central Kentucky Monday night, bringing down trees and leaving thousands of Bluegrass Energy customers without power. Ichthus Farm took the brunt of the winds, which tore down nearly every tent in the compound and snapped an electrical pole in two places.

But according to Doug Baker, director of operations for Ichthus, the festivities are still scheduled to begin on time, and crews are working long days to get everything back in order.

"All things are go," he said. "We should get everything back together by (Wednesday) night. I think we'll make it."

Baker said he wasn't discouraged by the damage, seeing it as a bump in the road rather than a curse.

"It could have been Thursday or Friday when we have 19,000 people here," he said. "There is always a silver lining and a positive perspective."

Workers had to get new tents from the company that supplies them, and grounds crews were working all day Tuesday to clean up the mess. One of the Ichthus mission groups was diverted from Lexington to help with repairs.

Several workers were staying on the campgrounds Monday night, but nobody was injured.

With the excitement behind him, Baker focused on what the weekend has to offer and what guests could expect from this year's festival, including an enhanced youth leader's tent, a new Independent Stage and an emcee for the Deep End Stage.

The Independent Stage will feature grassroots music and will be outside the compound, which means the public will be able to catch those shows free of charge.

This year's festival's theme is Listen.Live and focuses on active listening to God rather than just hearing the music played. It marks the 39th Ichthus, which started in 1970 as a response to 1969's Woodstock.

More than 100 bands will perform during the three-day event, including Jeremy Camp, Kutless, tobyMac and David Crowder. Casting Crowns, a popular group best known for its crossover hit "I Can Only Imagine," will take over the coveted Saturday night closer spot.

For more information on the festival and for ticket information, visit www.ichthusfestival.org.

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