“The purpose of this exciting new venture is to identify and provide a platform for new artists who can communicate a God-centered worldview in the language of contemporary culture so that the next generation can see, hear and know God,” said CFA President Bob Thompson. “The Christian Festival Association is delighted to partner with Word Label Group to provide this unique new platform for aspiring Christian artists.”

Regional competitions will take place at 19 CFA-affiliated festivals this summer (see lists of participating festivals below), and a regional winner will be determined at each festival. Those 19 winners will be invited to Nashville in September to participate in the national finals.

The overall winner will receive a development deal with the Word Label Group family of labels, which includes Fervent Records, Myrrh Records and Word Records.

Jeremy Holley, Word Label Group VP of Consumer & Interactive Marketing, continues, “We are thrilled to partner with the CFA once again in this innovative and straightforward method of discovering and promoting talent. Word is continually striving to discover and magnify the most relevant and cutting-edge sounds in Christian music and we can't wait to hear and see the new music that this year’s competition produces.”

For more information concerning the National Talent Search, including registration information and deadlines, please visit the individual websites of the participating festivals. They can be reached by visiting the Christian Festival Association’s website at www.christianfestivals.com.

Participating Festivals include:

AgapeFest (IL) 5/1/09 - 5/2/09
Spirit West Coast- Del Mar (CA) 5/22/09 - 5/24/09
Ichthus (KY) 6/10/09 - 6/13/09
Alive Festival (OH) 6/16/09 - 6/20/09
Atlanta Fest (GA) 6/17/09 - 6/20/09
Creation Northeast (PA) 6/24/09 - 6/27/09
Lifest (WI) 7/8/09 - 7/12/09
King’s Fest (OH) 7/9/09 - 7/11/09
SpiritSong Festival (OH) 7/9/09 - 7/11/09
Sonshine Festival (MN) 7/15/09 - 7/ 18/09
Ignite Chicago Festival (IL) 7/17/09 - 7/18/09
Hills Alive (SD) 7/18/09 - 7/19/09
Creation Northwest (WA) 7/22/09 - 7/25/09
Spirit West Coast-Monterey (CA) 7/30/09 - 8/1/09
Kingdom Bound (NY) 8/2/09 - 8/5/09
Unity Christian Music Festival (MI) 8/5/09 - 8/8/09
Rock The Desert (TX) 8/7/09 - 8/8/09
Rock The Light (KS) 9/4/09 - 9/5/09
LifeLight Festival (SD) 9/4/09 - 9/6/09

The Christian Festival Association is composed of 25 of the nation’s leading Christian music festivals from coast to coast. Its mission is to help member festivals grow both spiritually and fiscally, so that more lives can be changed for the glory of God. More than 22 million Christian music fans each year attend live events in venues ranging from small church gatherings to huge arena-based shows. Participating CFA member music festivals attract more than 1.4 million of these fans each summer to their multi-day Christian music festivals offered coast to coast. For more information on CFA, including a list of participating festivals, visit www.christianfestivals.com.

Word Label Group, comprised of Word Records, Fervent Records, Myrrh Records and Word Music Publishing, is a division of Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb Company. The artist roster heralds some of today's top Christian music performers and songwriters including Diamond Rio, Point Of Grace, Mark Schultz, BarlowGirl, Big Daddy Weave and pureNRG. The Word Label Group leads the industry with over 58 years of music-making history. For more information on Word Label Group and its artists, visit www.wordlabelgroup.com.