Palau's only West Coast festival this year

happens in Bend July 23

BEND — World evangelist and author Luis Palau has seen little of his home state in a year that has taken him from Beijing to Madrid, from D.C. to Mendoza.

On Saturday, July 23, he’ll return to Oregon for the only 2005 Luis Palau Festival west of the Potomac River – the Central Oregon Festival.

The event will be held at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend’s historic Old Mill District. Like all Palau festivals, the event is free and open to the public: activities begin at noon and run to 10 p.m. “We can’t wait to get back to Oregon, the place where our ‘festival evangelism’ strategy began with the Portland Festival in 1999.” said Palau. “Since then, by God’s grace, we’ve brought the Good News to over four-and-a-half million people through our festivals.”

Palau will have just returned from Spain, where his Latin Ministries team staged a massive event on the streets of Madrid. He’ll vacation with the Palau clan (wife Pat, four sons and 10 grandchildren) in — coincidentally — central Oregon, then return to his travels with major events set for Washington D.C. and China.

Produced in partnership with area churches, the Central Oregon Festival will showcase three of the hottest bands in contemporary Christian music: Kutless, Tait, and Pillar. The Livin’ It action sports tour also will make a stop in Bend, featuring actor/filmmaker Stephen Baldwin and pro athletes from the “action sports” of skateboarding and BMX biking. Video superstars Bob & Larry from the VeggieTales video series will host a massive children’s play area.

“We hope our friends from throughout the Northwest will join us in Bend on July 23rd,” said Palau. “We’ll always consider Oregon our home and Oregonians our family, so let’s have a great family reunion and celebrate God’s glory together.”

For more information visit www.centraloregonfestival.org or call 541-318-1772.