GREENFIELD — Having settled into its new location at the Franklin County Fairgrounds last year, the SoulFest Christian music festival is aiming to strike a balance of music and human connection at its 2025 event, set to return Thursday, Aug. 14 to Saturday, Aug. 16.
“We believe in the principle: show me your friends and I’ll show you your future,” Frank Tate, who, along with Bev Abbonizio, co-owns 5 Minute Walk Productions that organizes SoulFest, said to characterize the shift in programming for the 27th annual event.
Tate, who took partial ownership of the festival last summer from founder Dan Russell, explained there were 63 bands in 2024, with musicians taking the stage over the three days. The high quantity of music and the limited number of activities guided the change of pace.
“What we’ve done is cut way back on the amount of bands and [focus] way more on the activities that we’re providing,” he said, adding that this will include lawn games like pickleball and cornhole, children’s activities, social activities for young adults, talks and workshops, and a variety of other events like an ice cream eating contest Friday night and a Catholic Mass on Friday and Saturday mornings.
While the goal this year is to make sure music is part of the festival and artists are playing to larger crowds of people, Tate also said organizers are looking to make a dent in the loneliness epidemic through common connections in faith.
Citing data from a 2023 report by former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Tate said there are high levels of loneliness among much of the U.S. population, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and social media. After reading this report and pointing out some of the statistics on loneliness in young children and how community support can help combat addiction, Tate said he wanted to find a way to help.
“We have to create more opportunities for people to find community, to find great friends and to do shared experiences, because if that is the answer to how you get out of addiction is that you find a great community, then I want to help that all day long,” he said.
With the goal of helping to curb loneliness, the festival’s theme this year is “Live a Great Story,” with some seminars, question-and-answer programs and workshops centered on this theme, including the Saturday “Live a Great Story: Paul Colman Interviews GiveSendGo, 8 Days of Hope, Lukiwe and Exodus Road” program at the Roundhouse Stage.
Additionally, on-site camping allows people to stay the full three days, with various accommodations for families and young adults. One option includes the SoulFest Young Adult Hostels for small groups in festival-provided tents, which Tate said can help connect people while also filling the need for lodging that is limited in Greenfield.
Although the emphasis this year is on being community-centered, musicians include SoulFest alumni and new additions. We the Kingdom and CAIN are some of the returning headline acts, and headliner Josiah King is a new addition to the SoulFest stage — an act whom Tate described as a rising star in the Christian music scene with millions of Spotify streams after a few years of playing music. Meet-and-greet opportunities will be available on all three days.
While the programming and sponsoring organizations of SoulFest are largely faith-based, Tate stressed that SoulFest is for those across the spectrum of faith.
“If we really believe what Jesus said, everybody’s welcome,” he said, “and that’s one of the things that’s hard for me, is that the church oftentimes puts up these huge barriers for people to even come and experience it. We would love everybody to be there.”
To view the full festival schedule or to purchase tickets, visit thesoulfest.com.