Throughout the course of the meeting, the group met with a variety of Christian music industry leaders, including record label executives, booking agents and artist managers. "We had a very productive meeting," said Kathy Cook, festival director for Hills Alive Festival (Rapid City, SD) and CFA Board Member. "There was open and honest dialogue among the festival operators and with the industry representatives present. We sincerely believe that we can all benefit by working together to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our events."

According to Bob Thompson, the Association's president, "The CFA's vision is to provide and facilitate an open communications environment that links Christian festival organizers together for encouragement, shared information and resources, and addressing common business circumstances and goals."

"The Christian music festivals put on by CFA members are attended by over 1.5 million people," said Thompson. "Collectively, these festivals send out over 2.5 million direct mail pieces, send E-mail blasts to over 4.5 million potential attendees and place posters in nearly a million churches, schools and retail locations. Collectively, the CFA member websites attract over 150 million annual hits. These marketing efforts are augmented by significant electronic media coverage on Christian radio and TV stations nationwide."

The twenty-six members of the CFA include events from coast-to-coast and border-to-border. The member festivals include:

Agapefest - Greenville, Illinois

Alive Festival - Mineral City, Ohio

Atlanta Fest - Stone Mountain, Georgia

Big Ticket Festival - Ionia, Michigan

Cornerstone Festival - Bushnell, Illinois

Creation Festival Northeast - Mt. Union, Pennsylvania

Creation Festival Northwest - Enumclaw, Washington

Crossover Festival - Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

Hills Alive - Rapid City, South Dakota

Ichthus - Wilmore, Kentucky

Kingdom Bound - Darien Center, New York

King's Fest - Doswell, Virginia

LifeLight Festival - Worthing, South Dakota

Lifest - Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Purple Door Festival - Lewisberry, Pennsylvania

Revelation Generation - Frenchtown, New Jersey

Rock The Coast - Muskegon, Michigan

Rock The Desert - Midland, Texas

Rock The Light - LyCygne, KS

Sonshine Festival - Wilmar, Minnesota

SoulFest - Gilford, New Hampshire

Spirit Song Festival - King's Island, Ohio

Sprit West Coast - Monterey and Del Mar, California

Unity Christian Music Festival - Muskegon, Michigan

Winterfest - Lynchburg, Virginia

Thompson further stated: "The primary purpose of the CFA is to increase the success and professionalism of participating festivals so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be advanced and glory brought to Jesus Christ, our Lord."

The group meets face-to face annually each year, with the next meeting scheduled for September 2011 in Orlando. The group also conducts monthly teleconferences.

Details and a map of U.S. festival locations are at the website: http://www.christianfestivals.org