Four days of "heaven on earth" ... Creation music festival starting Wednesday ...

By DAVID O'CONNOR | Staff Writer

MOUNT UNION - If it seems like all roads in central and western Pennsylvania are leading here this week, there's a reason.

It's because thousands of visitors have been arriving at the scenic, sprawling campground known as the Agape Farm just outside this Huntingdon County town.

And when they get here, the guests are expecting to find 'a little bit of heaven on earth,' as one visitor put it recently.

Wednesday marks the start of the annual Creation Northeast festival, the yearly early-summer music and cultural event that typically draws some 50,000 to 100,000 visitors.

By the time Creation comes to a close Saturday night, spectators will be entertained by a who's-who of current Christian music, from Chris Tomlin (Wednesday's headliner) to TobyMac, Needtobreathe, the Newsboys, Matthew West and Hawk Nelson.

There's always a strong Lancaster County connection to the festival, since Creation got started at Muddy Run Park in 1979, and stayed there until it outgrew Muddy Run and moved west in 1984.

And even though the festival left the Garden Spot 30 years ago, it still has a strong connection to its original home, with countless thousands of Lancastrians attending as spectators, working as volunteers and otherwise staying involved in the festival.

Creation has long been the world's largest Christian music festival, and it added a second event, similar to Pennsylvania's, in Washington state in 1998.

Along with the main-stage entertainment, there also will be fringe, late-night and other stages, the annual candle-lighting and communion.

The schedule for the rest of the week includes:

--- Thursday, the band Green River Ordinance, 3:55 p.m.; rising group For King and Country, 6:05 p.m.; worship with singer-songwriter Brian Campbell at 7:05; popular artist Matthew West at 8:40; and veteran popular band the Newsboys at 10.

--- Friday, Britt Nicole, 5:50 p.m.; speaker Bob Lenz, 7:20; Family Force 5, 8:25; and TobyMac, 9:45

--- Saturday, the duo Capital Kings, 2:40 p.m.; the band Rapture Ruckus, 3:25; Hawk Nelson, 5 o'clock; Brian Campbell, 6:50; popular Christian/mainstream rock band Switchfoot, 8:25; and Needtobreathe, 9:45 p.m.

For details, visit www.creationfest.com or call 1-800-327-6921.

David O'Connor is a Lancaster Newspapers reporter who covers suburban government, off-the-field news for the Lancaster Barnstormers and general-assignment issues. He also blogs about the Christian music scene at CrossRock. He can be reached at doconnor@lnpnews.com or (717) 481-6033. You can also follow @DaveOConnor_LNP on Twitter.

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