It's the time of year again. Festival season in Pennsylvania hasn't been quite as exciting since Creation Fest and Purple Door disappeared, but thankfully, there's always Uprise Festival. Now celebrating its 21st year, Uprise has become the festival to attend each September. We personally were falling in love with it few years ago - having attended it in its humble beginnings - but in 2026, it's become the quintessential event to celebrate Christian music - past and present. It's a nice marriage of what Creation and Purple Door each once offered.

It's been amazing to watch Uprise grow over the years, too, from a smaller festival called Vertical Fest to the massive event it's become. This year's lineup was pretty impressive, too. You have classic names like Petra, Pillar, TobyMac, Skillet, CeCe Winans and John Reuben right alongside newer names like Jamie MacDonald, Band Reeves, Ben Fuller, Emerson Day and Brandon Lake. Then you have newer indie artists, established rock artists and a truly bouncing hip hop tent. Uprise is a little sampling of CCM history in one weekend.

Unlike last year, I decided to try to make it for the entire event this year. Uprise consists of four performance stages: Main Stage, Rock Star Stage, Hip Hop Stage and Vertical Stage. They consider the "Vertical Stage" a new one for 2026, but I remember seeing House of Heroes and Ivoryline there some years ago. At the very least, the stage has been brought back to the festival after some time not being active.

While two rock bands - Saved by Skarlet and Heal the Hurt - opened up the event on the Rock Star Stage, rock legends Petra opened up the Main Stage at just before 4pm. You read that right -- PETRA! If my memory serves me right, it's been about 30 years since I've seen Petra in concert. While they've been active on and off over the past couple decades, the guys - now largely well into their 70's - are together again and touring in support of a brand new studio album released this past January, titled Hope. On this September afternoon, they took the stage, launching into the classic "He Came He Saw He Conquered," and then right into one of the first Petra songs to make me a fan way back in the early 90's, "Dance." It was absolutely surreal to see these legends rocking out on stage after all these years. The Christian music world owes a lot to these guys. They continued on with recognizable hits, including "Just Reach Out," "I Am on the Rock," and "This Means War," with a newer song from Hope, "Filthy Lucre," thrown in for good measure. Just before I left the Main Stage area, keyboardist John Lawry offered a solo utilizing clips that repeated the words "Jesus Loves You," and then busted out the keytar before Cristian Borneo offered up a solo on drums, too.

It was a tough decision to leave Petra's set, but I really wanted to check out Grace Graber's brand of pop punk over at the Vertical Stage. I hustled my way over there, caught her cover of Forrest Frank's "Lemonade" and another worship song as she finished her set, and made it back to Main Stage in time to hear Petra finishing "Beyond Belief" and close with "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." That's the only downside to the festival experience: overlapping sets. There were several shows I would have liked to have sampled, but I had priorities when it came to wanting to watch a few full performances. After Petra, Ohio's own John Reuben returned to Uprise. Around the same time, however, Band Reeves were hitting the Vertical Stage and The Protest were taking on the Rock Star. But, as curious as I was to maybe sample those, Reuben won out. His set started a little late, but when it did begin, he came out swinging with "Out of Control." Last year, it was just John by himself, but this year he had some support on drums and programming. It definitely made his songs feel fuller and he seemed to really have found his groove again. I've always loved seeing Reuben perform with a band, and this year's performance easily eclipsed last year's. "Move" was next, followed by the fun "Doin'" and the classic "Gather In," which he used to get the crowd involved. But then John returned to an old favorite set moment by giving out a free t-shirt, and while those used to be "John Reuben" tees, this time, it was one that literally read "Free T-Shirt." He performed "One Drink Johnny" while trying to get the crowd going, and finally tossed the tee into the audience. He then dug into his bag for, quite literally, "Another Free T-Shirt," and continued to hype up the audience in a way only John Reu could. "Word of Mouth" was next, followed by another fan favorite in "Nuisance" (one of his band members provided vocals for the chorus that was sung by Relient K's Matt Thiessen on the recorded version. "Hindsight" was a fun addition, and then he offered a third "Free T-Shirt" during "Do Not." After "Divine Inspiration," John closed his set with a brand new song, "1-2-Barbecue" before leaving the stage.

I decided to grab a quick dinner before rockers Disciple dominated Main Stage with their hard rock onslaught. They opened with "Game On" and continued to play a mix of fan favorites and more recent offerings. I unfortunately missed more of their set than I'd wanted to, but I made it down front just in time to hear Kevin Young deliver one of his fantastic inspiring words of encouragement. So many of the messages across the entire weekend, from vastly different artists, ended up being about not letting our sins convince us we're unworthy of God's love or unusable by Him, and Kevin's passionate message was one of the most impactful of them. He followed it with their encouraging hit, "Promise to Live," and turned toward a moment of worship with "Firm Foundation." Before closing, they offered up the fan favorites "Dear X, You Don't Own Me" and "Radical." Right after their set ended, I hustled over to the Rock Star Stage to see if I could catch some of Spoken's set, and I was really thankful to get to see a little bit before they finished. On the way back to Main Stage, I swung by the Vertical Stage again to catch a little of Jonathan Traylor's set, too.

By the time I made it back to Main Stage, Mark Stuart, the former original lead singer of one of my favorite bands, Audio Adrenaline, was on stage sharing from his heart about the ministry Child Fund, urging attendees to consider sponsoring a child. As a 90's CCM kid, it was pretty surreal to see Mark back on a festival Main Stage in the spotlight, and it was just so good to hear from him again, too.

After more announcements and such, around 8pm, the legendary TobyMac took the stage with his Diverse City band. Toby is a veteran of the industry himself, and the guy still puts on one of the best shows around, hands down. We had the pleasure of catching his Hits Deep Tour earlier this year, and most of his set was pretty similar to that performance. He opened with "Everything," getting the party started quickly, and continued with "I Just Need U" and "Heaven on My Mind" -- complete with a video cameo from Forrest Frank - which quickly siked fans out who thought Forrest was actually in attendance. (Oops! You could audibly hear the excitement at Toby announcing him, and then the excitement quickly drop out when it was revealed to be just a video, and not Forrest in the flesh.) Someone tossed a giant beach ball on stage, which Toby fielded and dribbled briefly before kicking it back to the crowd. Peak festival energy. Toby then introduced the next song as possibly the most important one he'd ever written, since it was about how he got saved, and performed "Love Broke Thru." He has a way of crafting immensely catchy and equally encouraging anthems, and this run of songs seemed well tailored for this kind of flow. "Help is on the Way" followed, with "Cornerstone," "Lose My Soul" (in which the festival's sound system accidentally dropped out for a moment), "The Goodness" - which included an explosion of streamers into the air - and "Move (Keep Walkin')." Toby then stood at the edge of the catwalk and shared about how, several years ago, he'd decided to read the entire Bible - which he'd never done before. And, while doing it, his oldest son Truett passed away (who he said would have turned 28 this fall). He was honest about how he found it hard to continue reading the Word, but decided to soldier on anyway, and give God a chance to show his faithfulness. This then led nicely into his song "Faithfully," which he followed up with newer tracks "God Did It" (with a solo from his band member, Deondra Marowa) and "A Lil Church" from his album Heaven on My Mind. He then started a timer and crammed five classic songs into a 5-minute medley, consisting of "Backseat Driver," "Funky Jesus Music," "Diverse City," "Me Without You" and "Feel It." DJ Maj then offered up a dance break, which allowed for Toby to do a wardrobe change and take a brief break, as Maj weaved together classics like "Sweet Caroline," "September," and Grits "Ooh Aah." He then mixed in DC Talk's "Jesus Freak," to which Toby returned to the stage to sing part of before ending the segment. Toby then took up a giant flag to wave around for "Til the Day I Die," then followed it with "Promised Land" and closed with "Nothin' Sweeter." It was a stellar set and a highlight of the weekend. Toby has the kind of set that really makes a festival feel like a major event.

And then there's Skillet. It's been a few years now since I've had the chance to see these guys live, but they're regulars at Uprise Festival. I can still remember seeing them live for the first time at Creation '98 on the smaller Fringe Stage when they were just a three-piece grunge band. Now, they're a gigantic rock tour de force that isn't afraid to pretty much blow stuff up. And, well... they kind of did. After a brief orchestral intro, they opened with "Comatose," sending streams of flames into the air from the center of the stage. I know they've been utilizing flames on stage for years, but this was definitely more than I've ever seen them do before. And, as they rocked out between "Comatose" and the next song... the power quit. Everything shut down except for a few reserve lights. The festival crew scrambled to restore power - and thankfully did pretty efficiently - but it was long enough to make you wonder if the band might have to finish the night with an impromptu acoustic set. But once power was restored, the band marched on with "I Feel Invincible," with jets shooting sparks into the air at the back of the stage. "Rise" was next, and then frontman John Cooper strapped a pair of cannons onto his arms to shoot smoke out of as they moved into "Awake and Alive." I'd seen photos of this moment from previous shows, but this was the first time I'd witnessed it for myself. It's quite ridiculous, but if there's anyone who can pull it off and make it seem fitting, it's John Cooper and Skillet! A brief refrain of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" was a sweet surprise, leading into "Sick of It," followed by "Legendary." "Whispers in the Dark" was a nice treat, with the plumes of fire returning, and then John introduced a recent new song (which is also featured on an upcoming EP), titled "Scream" (which also utilized the flames). Cooper took a moment to preach about Jesus and encourage the audience, and then moved into another one of the band's biggest hits, "Hero," before a video intro served as a lead-in to "Not Gonna Die," which was followed by the polarizing "Unpopular." Seth Morrison ripped into a tasty guitar solo and then the band performed "Psycho in My Head" before a large face with glowing eyes was wheeled out onto the stage for another fan favorite, "Monster." It was a standout moment of the night for sure, and then the foursome said goodnight and left the stage. But the lights stayed dimmed, and the audience chanted for an encore. The band soon reemerged to play one final song, "The Resistance," which seemed thematically appropriate for Uprise Fest.

With as late as it was, the night was done for me, and I decided to join the mass exodus traffic to head back to my motel room. But the night wasn't quite over for Uprise. Attendees could stay for a "Late Night Comedy" performance from Jonnie W. that started at 11pm before calling it quits.

If 2 days worth of music wasn't enough for you, Saturday offered a couple events that could be added on to your standard ticket (I'm not sure if or what the additional cost may be). For one, there is the Uprise 5K, which began "promptly" at 7am (and there was zero chance of me being up early enough to see that. Ha!). And then there was also "Pancakes, Praise, & Devotions" with Dr. Joy Greene of Joytime Ministries, with worship from Jonathan Traylor, at 8:00am.

As impressive as the lineup was for Friday, Saturday was a packed day for sure, with four stages rotating music all day. I arrived on Saturday morning while Emerson Day was performing at Main Stage, with my sights set on checking out Pillar at 1:15. But the festival had already been going on for a couple hours by this point. Spoken led worship at 10am at the Vertical Stage, while Tommy Zuko kicked off the festivities at the Hip Hop Stage. Chaotic Resemblance got the Rock Stage going around noon, and that's also about the time that Emerson Day was kicking off Main Stage with her brand of country-flavored pop rock. So while I watched a little of Emerson and got ready for Pillar, Kijan Boone was hitting the Hip Hop Stage, Gabe von Oven was over at Vertical, and To Speak of Wolves was rocking the Rock Star Stage. Sadly, around the same time as Pillar was taking Main Stage by force, Anike (formerly Wande) was over at the Hip Hop Stage. Again -- the overlapping can be pretty tough if you want to watch several of the artists performing at the same times.

With that said, I decided to go old school and check out former Flicker Records rock band Pillar at Main Stage. I can't even remember the last time I saw these guys live, but it was a blast from the past to see them performing again. They've been lying low a bit in recent years, but they recently put out a documentary about the band and started working on new music, so we may be hearing from Pillar more and more in the coming months. They came roaring right out of the gate with what just might be their biggest hit, "Fireproof," and then continued on with the title cut from their album For the Love of the Game. Frontman Rob Beckley (who was boldly clad in a hoodie despite the warm, overcast Pennsylvania weather) reminisced about the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center tragedy and how he remembers writing the song "Fireproof" in the midst of it, and then proceeded to peform the Where Do We Go From Here album opener, "Hypnotized." He then referred to the next song as one really close to the heart of the band and moved into "Simply" (from the same album), before they performed their cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," followed by "Everything," and then "We Ride" from their 2015 album, One Love Revolution. It was around this time that the band was given the notice to wrap up their set, but they proceeded to squeeze in a daring three more songs, offering some of their most memorable songs in "Underneath It All," "Bring Me Down" and, finally, "Frontline." It was pretty fun seeing these guys again, especially after so much time has passed.

From this point on in the day, I was in full nomad mode. I traveled to the Rock Star Stage for a minute of Behold the Beloved, then made it over to Hip Hop to catch 1K Phew getting the packed-in crowd rowdy. I then wandered into the Vertical Stage area, only to discover that Scout and the Saints was none other than Scout Powell's band. I had heard the daughter of Mac Powell had started her own band, but I totally forgot it was Scout and the Saints. I caught just enough of her set to hear her perform her single "Dancin' on My Grave," and then I made it back to Main Stage to see a little of fast-rising CCM star Jamie MacDonald. When I got up to the stage, Jamie was giving her personal testimony, and it was really powerful to hear what God had done with her life. She then performed "Somebody Set Me Free" and then shared more about how God had gotten her back into singing before playing another song. Before she ended her set, she performed her hit "Left It in the River," as well.

I then travelled over to try to catch Convictions at the Rock Star Stage but didn't make it in time, so I went over to the Hip Hop Stage to check out Miles Minnick. Man, that tent was always a party. No matter who was on stage, the crowd was packed in like sardines and going nuts for whoever was performing. Admittedly, I'm not a big hip hop guy, but that tent was a blast, and I loved visiting it throughout the day. While I was there, Miles talked about how he was sharing the news of a new song coming out this week called "Christlike University," featuring Lecrae and nobigdyl. It serves as the theme song for a new school the artists are launching. It all sounds pretty exciting.

When I got over to the Main Stage, Ben Fuller's set was already underway. He was hamming it up on stage, cracking jokes and interacting with the crowd in an endearing way. At one point, he even picked up a broom to join his band in "playing guitar," as they performed "You Are My Sunshine." He then moved into another beloved hymn with "I Fly Away," as he continued with his country rock sound. I then walked all the way back to the other end of the fairgrounds to shoot a few minutes of War of Ages at the Rock Star Stage, then popped into the Hip Hop tent to see a little of nobigdyl. Again... it was always a full-on party in there!

At 5pm, speaker Reggie Dabbs was delivering a message at the Main Stage, but the music continued at the other stages. I decided to make my way back to Rock Star (which is almost in spitting distance of the Hip Hop Stage... so to speak) to catch Disciple's worship band alter ego, Honor & Glory. I actually decided to stay put for once and take in their entire set. Kevin Young introduced their set as a bonafide worship service, and encouraged the audience to give themselves over to fully worshipping Him. They opened with "Battle Belongs" and continued on with "Fear of Missing Out," before Kevin shared some encouraging words before they performed "You Are God (When The World Is On Fire)." "God of My Story" was next, and then they played "Come Alive," "Greater," "Firm Foundation (He Won't)," and closed with a word of encouragement about forgiveness and their song "Jesus We Love You."

It was towards the end of their set that it started to rain a little, so I threw on the jacket I had been carrying around all day and made my way to the Hip Hop Stage for Hulvey. His set was already going when I got there, and I heard him perform "RICH LIKE THI$" from his most recent album. I didn't want to miss Nine Lashes, though, so I went back to Rock Star to catch them, but their set was delayed and I had to wait around a bit for them to finish setting up. The only problem with this was that Crowder was starting around the same time at Main Stage, and I didn't want to miss all of his set. I caught Nine Lashes' opener and "Lights We Burn," before I made my way all the way back to the other end for Crowder at Main Stage. When I got there, he launched into "Lift Your Head Weary Sinners" (one of my faves of his) and then followed it with Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light" and "Good God Almighty." Around this time, Emerson Day was playing another set at Vertical Stage, but I decided to head back to the Hip Hop Stage where everyone was chomping at the bit waiting for KB to take the stage. That one had gotten a little delayed as well, but before too long, KB was front and center in the Hip Hop tent, and the party was roaring again. Before leaving that area, I ran back to the Rock Star Stage for Wolves at the Gate, and shot a song or two of theirs before making my way back to Main Stage where CeCe Winans had already begun a worship set.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting CeCe Winans to be leading worship. I remember the days of "BeBe and CeCe Winans," when they were a sibling power duo, having a big presence in the CCM world, and I know CeCe has her own solo music. So it took me by surprise to hear her leading the massive Uprise crowd in Sunday morning songs like "Is He Worthy," "Holy Forever" and "Goodness of God." CeCe is a Gospel legend and a vocal powerhouse, so these songs have never sounded better, but I was kind of surprised she was singing worship covers when I tuned in.

Guys, I'm certainly not a kid anymore - ha! - so at this point in the night, after all that Fairgrounds traveling and it being almost two full days, I was crashing. I parked myself for a bit before the final act of the night to rest up some, then I made my way over to catch a little of Brandon Lake's headlining set before calling it a night early. When I got over to the stage, he was marveling at the size of the crowd and then performed his song "Count 'Em." He followed it with "That's Who I Praise," and I decided to grab a few more shots before attempting to beat the rush and heading out. The attendance was so big this year, they had overflow parking, and as it is, I found myself parking further away than I had previous years. Uprise has really gotten big - and I love it.

2026 was another great year for Uprise Festival, and I'm grateful to have been able to attend it yet again. It's becoming a highlight of the year each year, and I'm already eager to see what Uprise 2027 will bring. It's slated for September 10th and 11th, 2027, so keep the festival on your radar -- I can guarantee it's going to be another banner year for Christian music's premiere festival!

If you're a parent wondering what Uprise might have to offer for your family, there are lots of great activities for kids. There are inflatable attractions to play on, a petting zoo that operates from 10am to 3pm, Balloon Animals with Tilly, The DKers Circus Arts, Marian & Friends Ventriloquist, and fun events like a Donut Eating Contest, a free Ice Cream Sundae for the first 50 people (which happens twice on Saturday), and more! There are also some really quality food vendors, so you don't need to leave the event to grab eats (I personally look forward to the pretzel twists vendor each year!). There are also a couple merch pavilions for band merch and add-on Meet & Greet opportunities for select artists. Check out www.uprisefest.com for more details!