The Ichthus Festival is a

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Wilmore, Kentucky Wilmore is a home rule-class city in Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,686 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the United States Census Bureau ...

. Held 44 times from 1970 to 2015, the event was originally a Christian-music answer to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

but developed into both the longest-running Christian music festival and a

Christian ministry In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith, the prototype being the Great Commission. The '' Encyclopedia of Christianity'' defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", in ...

serving tens of thousands of attendees annually. With financial difficulties in the 2010s, the festival left Wilmore after 2012 and put on one last event in 2015 at the

Kentucky Horse Park Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park opened in 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located off Kentucky State Highway 1973 (Iron Works Pike) and Interstate 75, at Exi ...

in nearby

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. In 2021, the festival was revived in Wilmore.

History

Professor Bob Lyon was inspired by 1969's

to create a similar experience for fans of

. In spring 1970, Lyon and some of his students at

Asbury Theological Seminary Asbury Theological Seminary is a Christian Wesleyan seminary in the historical Methodist tradition located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. It is known for its advocacy of egalitarianism, giving ...

hosted thousands at the first Ichthus Festival at Wilmore Campgrounds in

. Admission for that first event was per day, or for the weekend (equivalent to $ and $ in ). The name was taken from the , a "symbol used by the earliest Christians as a secret sign". Student-run for decades, the festival hired a director in 2000, and spent that decade expanding Ichthus Festival into a greater

. After Ichthus 2013 was cancelled due to financial problems, it was announced that the 2014 event (September 26–28) would be held at the

in northern

Fayette County, Kentucky Fayette County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous county in the commonwealth. Its territory, population and government are coextens ...

, as part of

Creation Festival Creation Festival, commonly shortened to Creation, is an annual four-day Christian music festival in the United States. According to its organizers, it is the "Nation's Largest Christian Music Festival." Average attendance is between 50,000 an ...

s. The dates were later changed to June 4–7 before the festival was moved to 2015 entirely (July 8–11) due to the 2013–14 North American winter causing an "unusually high number of

snow days A weather cancellation or delay is closure, cancellation, or delay of an institution, operation, or event as a result of inclement weather. Certain institutions, such as schools, are likely to close when bad weather, such as snow, flooding, air p ...

" that prevented local students from attending. The 2015 Creation-led Ichthus Festival was that group's last, as they announced on February 4, 2016, that there would be no Ichthus 2016: "We underestimated the time and financial resources necessary to restart this great ministry. So, after much prayerful consideration, Creation Festivals has made the difficult decision that stepping away from Ichthus Festival will be in the best interest for the event and its future." On May 6, 2016,

Asbury University Asbury University is a private Christian university in Wilmore, Kentucky. Although it is a non-denominational school, the college is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The school offers 50-plus majors across 17 departments. In the fal ...

announced that it had obtained the rights to the Ichthus Festival name and legacy from Creation Festivals. Fuse Ministries held a relaunch event of the Ichthus Festival on September 18, 2021, at Servant Heart Farm in Wilmore; 600–700 people attended, and the venue operators—Joe and Cheryl Lycan—said it was a success. Fuse's festival has continued there annually through 2022.

Event

The Wilmore Campgrounds hosted Ichthus Festivals through 1998. Starting in 1999, the festival was held at Ichthus Farm, a parcel bought specifically for the festival. Fuse Ministries' September 2021 event was scheduled at "Servant Heart Farm in Wilmore, KY ...the location of the festival from 1999 to 2012." The farm was sold and renamed in 2013. From 2021 through 2022, the festival has been held at Joe and Cheryl Lycan's Servant Heart Farm at 9517 Harrodsburg Road in Wilmore. For many years, the event was annually scheduled for the last full weekend in April—which in the

Bluegrass region The Bluegrass region is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It makes up the central and northern part of the state, roughly bounded by the cities of Frankfort, Paris, Richmond and Stanford. The Bluegrass region is characterized ...

meant foul weather: "Ichthus had enough soggy, stormy weekends ..that it earned nicknames such as Mudthus and Ickythus." In 2005, the festival saw snow, leading then-executive director Jeff James to move the weekend into June, saying, "It's better to be wet and warm than wet and cold." In 2008, an all-inclusive weekend ticket cost . In 1991, the festival saw 11,500 attendees; eight years later that number was 18,000. As of 2009, the five-day, three-stage Ichthus Festival was still attracting 17–20,000 attendees and upwards of 100 musicians and speakers; by 2012, it was the longest-continually-running

. When relaunched in 2021 by Fuse Ministries, the festival had 600–700 attendees.

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References

External links

* {{music venues of Kentucky 1970 establishments in Kentucky Asbury Theological Seminary Christian missions Christian music festivals Christianity in Kentucky music festivals established in 1970 music festivals in Kentucky