On stage: Lead singer Michael Tait, of Newsboys, performs on the catwalk during the final day of the Unity Christian Music Festival in 2009 at Heritage Landing.
It was a tip of the hat to the Unity Christian Music Festival's 10th year. But it was also a strategy to reach out to a host of festival "first-timers."
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This year's price plunge to a $10 daily advance ticket may be a longer-term trend or a one-time experiment for the multi-day, music-based event.
"We won't know the overall implications until the week of the festival," said Kevin Newton, festival director with the non-profit Alive on the Lakeshore organization.
"We sold a lot of tickets early -- we had the far best ever in advance sales," Newton said. "What we don't know is if we're selling more tickets, or did we just sell them faster?"
Late last year -- even before the complete list of headliners was announced -- tickets went on sale for the reduced, $10 rate. The price went up to $15 per day on Aug. 1. But even the $20 admission at the gate on concert day is still well under last year's price of $35.
Festival organizers did not hold back in fashioning its usual lineup of top-notch Christian music artists.
The 2010 group of headliners -- Third Day, Casting Crowns and Jeremy Camp -- match the popularity of last year's list of Mercy Me, Israel Houghton and Newsboys.
Even the free "Day Zero" on Wednesday has the usual solid offering of bands such as Thousand Foot Krutch and Fireflight.
In 10 years the upstart festival has mushroomed into a family-friendly event with activities for kids, seminar and information-booth opportunities, and other alternatives added to the music.
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SOURCE: MLive - Terry DeBoer
