Ichthus Festival Rocks On Despite Rain

By Katherine T. Phan

The warmth of the 35th Ichthus Festival, titled “Legacy”, filled the Ichthus Farm on its opening day, April 22, despite rain. Over 20,000 people came to Wilmore, Kentucky, for the festival, which is known as the Christian rock alternative to Woodstock.

For the first time this year, due rainy weather and muddy grounds, shuttle services were set up around Wilmore so people could get to the festival without driving their cars on the grounds.

The Ichthus Festival was started in 1969 with a vision from Dr. Bob Lyon who founded Ichthus Ministris, Inc. as a response to the counter-Christian culture practiced at the Woodstock event in New York. In May 1970, the first Ichthus Festival took place. Thirty-five years later, the event that was expected to only last a couple of years by organizers has drawn crowds from all over the country to not only engage in a one of a kind worship experience but also hear Bible speakers address life issues.

Dr. Lyon died in January 2004 but his legacy will live on.

Students from Ashbury Theological Seminary, where Dr. Lyon taught the New Testament and Greek, even made an award-winning promotional video for the festival entitled “Living Legacy”.

The festival schedule for the last day of the event is as follow:

9:40am Teaching Seminar

10:45 Drowning Jonah

11:25 Suburban Sound

12:05pm Bigtone

12:45 Seventh Time Down

1:25 Change58

1:50 Teaching Seminar

3:35 9Ball

4:15 Red Umbrella

4:55 Still Remains

5:20 Keynote Address and Communion(Main Stage)

7:35 The Roosevelts

8:05 Long Goodnight

8:45 Sides of the North

9:25 Neutral Agreement

10:15 Number One Gun

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