First and foremost, I sure hope and pray that the annual Christian music festival in Gunstock NH, commonly known as “Soulfest” — which just celebrated its 20th Anniversary last week — will be able to hold this tremendous event for AT LEAST 20 more years somewhere here in the Granite State.
Just a couple years ago, the Gallop polling organization determined thru a national poll it conducted that New Hampshire was the Second Least Religious State in our country, just behind neighboring Vermont — but you’d never assume something like that by checking out the thousands of people on the Soulfest grounds at any given time during this three-day festival. To those unfamiliar with the annual Soulfest event in New Hampshire, I think it could best be described as the Christian counterpart to Woodstock.
What’s really a blessing is that the crowd predominately appears to be 20-somethings or younger. If that’s accurate, it gives me great hope and faith for New Hampshire’s future. And given the choice, I’d rather see the young people of America put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and the Bible, rather than any political or secular philosophy. That’s just me.
Needless to say, the purpose of the following commentary is NOT to trash Soulfest, and other events around the country similar to it, but rather hopefully improve this event for many more years to come via open dialogue and discussion on this type of open forum. I have no doubt there are probably a fair number of people who attend this event that become “saved” and make it a personal vow to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in their life — Praise God for something like that. It’s also my understanding that there’s either a pond or lake on the Soulfest grounds specifically set-up for Water Baptisms at this event — Praise God for that, as well. I’m merely trying to throw out some suggestions in an attempt to make the whole Soulfest experience a little more comfortable and enjoyable for all those who attend.
Soulfest 2017 was my fifth consecutive visit to this annual event and I only attended one day for each of these past years. As for my age, I’ll just say I’m now within eight years from receiving my full Social Security pension.
Having said all that, here are my biggest “concerns” regarding Soulfest, which I hope and pray are fully remedied within the next couple years:
1) A tent or device constantly spraying a cool watery mist — I believe there are similar type items like this at the Storyland amusement park (a cool mist tent) in the White Mountains community of Glen, NH; as well as the Annual Folk Festival (an outdoor shower type device) in Lowell MA. It seems like each and every time I’ve gone to Soulfest, it feels like it’s about 110 degrees — especially when you’re either walking or standing up in the hot sun. In the 20 year history of Soulfest, I’m curious if anybody has ever been treated for heat exhaustion, sun stroke, or dehydration. Again, I have absolutely no clue how difficult or expensive this would be to install and set-up — especially for a three-day event every year — but it would just be a tremendous blessing just to cool off a little bit without getting all your clothes, wallet, and cell phone soaked to the bone.
2) More available folding chairs in shaded areas like the Mercy St. Cafe — Another welcomed blessing from standing or walking around in predominately the hot sun (especially for an old geezer such as myself) would be to sit down — preferably in a chair with a back rest — in a nice cool shaded area for about 15-20 minutes. Sitting on either the ground or the floor in the Mercy St. Cafe, doesn’t feel comfortable or relaxing. Would an area business or church be willing to either donate or lend a few hundred folding chairs to Soulfest for solely this three-day event? Perhaps somehow it could be tax deductible?
3) Make cold bottled spring water more available for patrons — I realize that cold bottled water is for sale at most, if not all, the food vendors at Soulfest for about $1.50 per bottle. Why not offer a discount to organizations and colleges who rent the display tables that they’d be given something like a 10-15 percent discount if they maintain an ice-filled cooler behind their table with small half-pint spring water bottles, which they’d give to any patron who request one? I hate to sound like I’m trying to encroach on your food vendors but I think if you’re going to hang around Soulfest for a couple hours, it’s crucial that you keep hydrated.
4) Numeric or Alphabetical Identifiers on Rows in the Parking Lot as is done at Malls, Supermarkets, and Department Stores — It’s truly amazing that the folks that operate the Gunstock ski resort haven’t remedied this situation in its parking lot long before Soulfest started 20 years ago. The reason that this issue concerns me is because I started having an anxiety attack of sorts when I went to the parking lot at night after the main concert a couple years back and sincerely forgot where I had parked my car (a somewhat common condition for old geezers like me). But how difficult would it be for the Soulfest parking lot volunteers to set up a system of rows with either orange pylons, or maybe folding chairs, and tape a piece of cardboard on it stating, 1A, 1B, 1C…etc.? Since that experience on forgetting where I parked my car at Soulfest, I now modify my car a little bit so I’ll especially notice it from a distance. But why can’t the Soulfest organizers remedy this situation so it’ll never happen again to someone else in the future — especially when they charge $10 per day to park?
5) An Easy to Figure Out Exit Procedure for Patrons Leaving Soulfest — Are there Soulfest parking lot volunteers who work 24/7 or no? I tried leaving a couple hours early last week and it took me about 15-20 minutes of driving around before I located a parking lot volunteer who explained to me how to exit — does it have to be as complicated as trying to figure out a Rubik’s cube to simply exit a parking lot?
6) Was this the best possible event for a ‘Landmark’ 20th Anniversary? — So the main headline performers for this year’s Soulfest were: 8/3/17, Th., For King & Country; 8/4/17, F, Matthew West; and, 8/5/17, Sat., Toby Mac. Now no disrespect to any of these Christian artists, I’m sure they’re all very financially successful and will continue to make a “joyful noise unto the Lord.” But are these the top artists in the Christian music genre? In the past 1-2 years, have any of them appeared as guests on the Daystar TV network, or maybe the Trinity Broadcasting Network? And if not signing a top-notch Christian artist to perform here, why not feature a never before unique item, like a Christian version of an off-Broadway play, to highlight a ‘landmark’ production in an anniversary year of an annual event, i.e. 10th year, 20th year, 25th year, etc.? An outdoor fireworks display might’ve been a little tacky to end each of the three nights of a Christian music festival. But popular Christian artists who have played the Soulfest main stage in the past five years like Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, or Michael W. Smith might’ve made this 20th Anniversary event a little more special. Just saying.
Lastly, if some of the aforementioned items were a major question of finances, I definitely get it. I usually bring my own cooler with ice and spring water, which I leave in my car. But still, I don’t think I can stay at Soulfest for more than 5-6 hours in a day out of fear of suffering from some type of heat stroke. But whether or not I continue to attend the annual Soulfest event I sure hope some type of Christian music festival with thousands of participants goes on in New Hampshire for many more years after I’m gone. I sincerely mean that. I anxiously look forward to any comments regarding this posting.
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