Music fete in Roseburg announced for Sept. 2-4

ROSEBURG — Already scheduled for the Labor Day weekend are a well established Christian music festival in northern California, and a new one in Stevenson, Wash. But a Roseburg man believes there is room for one more that same weekend, and he has been working for the past three years to launch “Mana-Fest” this Sept. 2-4.

The festival could attract up to 10,000 people to the Douglas County Fairgrounds, organizer Morris Pearson told Christian News Northwest.
With the theme “The Genesis,” reflecting the event’s beginnings, Mana-Fest aims to offer a solid lineup of both prominent and lesser-known names in contemporary Christian music, said Pearson.

Although not confirmed yet, said Pearson, the proposed lineup includes Rebecca St. James, Lost Adam, Todd Agnew, Rob Goodwin, SonicFlood, Darrell Mansfield, Paul Colman, Jacob’s Well, Barlow Girl, Rock-n-Roll Worship Circus and Left Waiting.

Also featured would be talks by youth evangelist Jay Bakker of Atlanta and creation scientist Mike Snavely of Jonestown, Pa., (www.natureofcreation.org)

Pearson said the festival’s name is a play on “manna,” meaning “bread from Heaven,” and on the word “manifest.” Pearson is trusting that the presence of God will indeed be manifest during the weekend.

The festival site also will allow overnight camping and there will be lodging within walking distance, said Pearson.

Pearson is a local businessman who is also associate pastor of Liberty Christian Fellowship in Roseburg. He is also involved with a local ministry to homeless teens in the Roseburg area; the festival is a fundraiser for that program.

The festival’s web site, www.mana-fest.org, was scheduled to “go live” on June 1. For more information, phone 541-680-7889 or 541-957-9412.
The other Labor Day weekend festivals are Joshua Fest, with more than 60 bands, in Quincy, Calif., near Redding, and the recently announced Xfest NW, to be held at the Skamania County Fairgrounds in Stevenson. Pearson expressed confidence that his event in Roseburg is far enough from the other festivals to draw a crowd.