The two year old events company had its most ambitious schedule of events to date over the past twelve months, staging a total of fifteen major music festivals in the U.S. and one in Canada. This year’s events calendar showed an increase of six new events from the 2008 production schedule of nine festivals.

In presenting the top names in Christian and Gospel music formats, Premier Festivals has forged strong partnerships with the top echelon of America’s leading mainstream amusement parks –including Cedar Point Park, King’s Dominion, King’s Island, Worlds of Fun, California’s Great America, Carowinds, and Canada’s Wonderland.

“We had a great year in 2009 in hitting the incredible mark of 100,000 concert-goers getting to hear the gospel message,” notes Richard Young, Director of Operations at Premier Festivals. “To get to provide the biggest names in Christian and Gospel music in family-friendly settings such as those we’re working with has been a tremendously successful outreach for the music and the message.”

Five of the ’09 events staged were black gospel “Joyfest” presentations, headlined by multi-platinum, multi-Grammy winner, Kirk Franklin. Two were three day contemporary Christian music events and one was a two day staging. All were multi-artist billings, many with the addition of major Christian speakers, and comedy artists.

Despite the growth pattern, Young is quick to admit it was a season not without its’ challenges. “On established festivals, we experienced growth, but we felt the effects of the obvious economic challenges on others. It takes time to establish a new brand, but we are optimistic that the new events will grow over time and be firmly established.”

Premier Festivals will close out their production calendar this month, with the presentation of Winterfest on December 30th at Liberty University Campus in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Noted Shane Quick, Co-Director of Premier Festivals: “Overall, we are very pleased with the success reflected in our second year of business. Looking ahead to 2010, we're very encouraged with the ongoing connectivity of the festivals with our presenting partnerships. Going forward, Premier Festivals will continue to grow the tremendous opportunity of bringing Christian music to some of the most established, respected outdoor stages in America where it can be enjoyed in a wholesome setting by the entire family.”

New in the planning stages for 2010 will be several ‘tiered ticket’ marketing structures and add-on packages currently being developed by Premier to broaden the participation opportunities available at Christian music festivals for the enjoyment of their ever growing audiences.

Resource Premier Festivals online: www.premierfestivals.com