SoulFest is an annual Christian music festival held in New England, United States. It currently takes place at the Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, New Hampshire and features six stages and over 125 bands. This year's festival dates are August 1-4, 2012.
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The event is billed by the producers as the largest Christian outdoor music festival event in New England. With 5 different stages, SoulFest has featured top national Contemporary Christian music acts such as Switchfoot, Skillet, Toby Mac, The Almost, Jars of Clay, Third Day, Chris Tomlin, BarlowGirl, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Casting Crowns, Joel and Janna, Audience of One, Superchick, Bethany Dillon, Newsboys, and many more. The event is also a showcase for the best of the Northeast's Christian bands, too, including Maeve, Jim Trick, Big Kettle Drum, and The Wrecking. Soulfest also gives tribute to the hardcore scene bringing in acts such as Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, MxPx, August Burns Red, Disciple, Flyleaf, Exiting The Fall, Pillar, RED, As I Lay Dying, Relient K, Haste the Day, Thousand Foot Krutch, Everyday Sunday, and many other popular rock acts.
This year's lineup includes: Switchfoot, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, TobyMac, Five Iron Frenzy, OC Supertones, Kutless, Jars of Clay, Peter Furler & Phil Joel, Aaron Shust, LeCrae, Manic Drive, Plumb, Project 86, Phil Wickham, Family Force 5, Brian "Head" Welch, Fireflight, Matt Maher, Audrey Assad, Becoming the Archetype, Write this Down, To Speak of Wolves, The City Harmonic, Run Kid Run, Jason Upton, Ascend the Hill, Jamie Grace, Rocky Loves Emily, Trevor Morgan, Sent By Ravens, Paul Colman, Hyland, Jimmy Needham, Nine Lashes, Children 18:3, Kiros, Big Kettle Drum, and more. See the full lineup.
Soulfest has two major stages in the actual festival area. The biggest stage, the Revival Stage, hosts major name artists, such as Skillet, Chris Tomlin, Third Day and Switchfoot, and houses well over ten thousand people on the surrounding grounds. The next biggest stage is Inside Out Stage, which houses the more rock-oriented acts, such as MxPx, The Chariot and Flyleaf along with a number of bands geared towards worship including Jason Upton, and Gateway Worship.
There are also several side stages, entitled Mercy Street, Deeper Well, and Mountain Top Stage. The Mercy Street stage is inside of a large ski lodge near the main entrance of Soulfest. Although it hosts mostly smaller acts that are lesser known, big name acts sometimes play shows at this venue, usually late at night, at events called "Late Night Performances".
The Mountain Top stage hosts mainly acoustic acts, and can be compared to a local coffee shop. At this stage, you can find artists like Maeve and Matt Maher, normally with just an acoustic guitar, but occasionally a piano or a small drum set will be played. The music is mostly soft acoustic praise music.
The Deeper Well stage is a stage in a small tent in the festival grounds. Very lesser known artists tend to play here, but generally, this stage hosts motivational speeches and testimonies from groups.
SoulFest will draw over 13,000 from all over the Northeast to spend 4-5 days in the Lakes Region, with some extending their stay for a vacation. There is on-site camping, off-site camping, local hotels, and condos. There are also plenty of rental properties available.
Gunstock Mountain Resort, host of the SoulFest, offers free parking for over 3000 cars while reserved parking is available for those who wish to have the closest 500 parking spots to the main entrance. Handicap and large vehicle parking are available as well.
SoulFest began in 1998 and took place as a 3 day festival at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, New Hampshire. In 2006, SoulFest changed locations to Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, NH and currently resides there annually.
2006
Bands Performing
2007
2008
Bands Performing
2009
Bands Performing
2010
Bands Performing
2011
2012
This year's lineup includes: Switchfoot, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, TobyMac, Five Iron Frenzy, OC Supertones, Kutless, Jars of Clay, Peter Furler & Phil Joel, Aaron Shust, LeCrae, Manic Drive, Plumb, Project 86, Phil Wickham, Family Force 5, Brian "Head" Welch, Fireflight, Matt Maher, Audrey Assad, Becoming the Archetype, Write this Down, To Speak of Wolves, The City Harmonic, Run Kid Run, Jason Upton, Ascend the Hill, Jamie Grace, Rocky Loves Emily, Trevor Morgan, Sent By Ravens, Paul Colman, Hyland, Jimmy Needham, Nine Lashes, Children 18:3, Kiros, Big Kettle Drum, and more. See the full lineup.