Naviagtors Missions Program will take place along with Spirit West Coast festival on May 28-30 (Memorial Day weekend) at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in North San Diego County, which is a new location this year.

The new Southern California festival will run for three days, Friday afternoon, May 28, until late Sunday night, May 30. The Memorial Day weekend event will feature most of the same attractions as the long-established Monterey festival—multiple stages, camping, teaching seminars, sports and recreation, children’s activities, exhibits, many of Christian music’s top talent, and cool, coastal weather. Laguna Seca in Monterey is about six miles from picturesque Monterey Bay and the ocean, but Del Mar is not even six blocks from the surf of the Pacific Ocean.

“When we established Spirit West Coast Monterey in 1997, it was because of a desire to use the ministry of Christian music to touch the lives of thousands of people,” stated festival producer and founder Jon Robberson. “The Lord has blessed that calling for seven years now, and we feel the time is right to expand the ministry vision to Southern California and the Southwest.”

“Spirit West Coast Del Mar will capture the same energy and exuberance as Monterey, but will be customized for the Southern California region and the Del Mar facility,” continued Robberson. “There will be similarities, but Del Mar will have its own event characteristics, both physically and in the musical programming content.”

The initial talent lineup for Spirit West Coast Del Mar will be announced in late November, with tickets going on sale Dec. 1. Many of Christian music’s top artists will appear at both the Del Mar and mid-summer Monterey events, although each festival will have its own unique lineup. The Del Mar lineup will feature a very broad mix of music styles, ranging from the rock of Audio Adrenaline and Relient K, to alternative, hip-hop and rap. As a cultural complement to Southern California, Latin-influenced music such as Salvador will be in ample supply.

Del Mar, like Monterey, will have a limited amount of VIP reserved seats, although they will be sold in a different manner than in Monterey. Monterey features a very limited number of Circle 100, four-person patron packages. Del Mar’s VIP seats will be available on a per seat basis. The Del Mar facility has a large grandstand as well as a half dozen other stages and venues that will be used for the event.

“We know Southern California will be spiritually impacted by Spirit West Coast Del Mar, and not just Southern California, but Arizona and Las Vegas as well. Del Mar is much closer to Arizona than Monterey, so we’re expecting several thousand to escape the late spring desert heat and head west to the beach,” Robberson suggested.

Spirit West Coast Monterey will continue on into an eighth year, July 22-24. Tickets to Monterey’s festival go on sale Feb. 2. Both festivals will be advertised together and share the same Web site and box office, www.spiritwestcoast.org and (831) 443-5399. Various details regarding Del Mar (ticket, camping prices) will also be available in mid-November before tickets go on sale Dec. 2.

The festival directors will be building a new Southern California volunteer leadership team to handle the many logistical aspects of presenting such a large event. People interested in volunteering can check the Web site under “Get Involved.”

Robberson summarizes by saying, “We encourage people to be praying and planning now for a dynamic spiritual event at Del Mar in 2004. God has changed, encouraged and impacted thousands of lives because of Spirit West Coast, and now the power of His life-changing Spirit can impact twice as many people.”