GREENFIELD — The Christian music festival SoulFest returned for its 27th year, and its second year at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, with a focus on community-building over the three days of festivities.
From Thursday through Saturday, musicians, vendors and guests came together for faith-centered activities and music. Headliners included Cain, Switchfoot, Josiah Queen and We the Kingdom alongside 20 other bands and performers.
After the festival spent its early years in New Hampshire beginning in 1998, it was held in Greenfield for the first time in 2024. Frank Tate, who, along with Bev Abbonizio, co-owns 5 Minute Walk Productions that organizes SoulFest, said that this year, the organizers prioritized reducing the number of musicians, increasing daytime activities for families and children, changing the layout of the festival for easier access, offering on-site camping options and creating more opportunities for connection.
On Friday, hundreds of attendees gathered at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, with SoulFest attendees reflecting on the changes this year.
Kevin Kadamus, founder of the South Carolina nonprofit Jacob’s Ladder Ministries, started coming to SoulFest in 2009 after he fatally shot his son, Jacob Kadamus, while hunting in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. He was given a three-year deferred sentence. After the death of his son, he and his wife worked to create the ministry to remember Jacob and work through their grief. They later partnered with SoulFest to install a cross at the festival where guests can write prayers or messages on a piece of paper, then nail it to the cross.
“People are literally coming over to us, seeking us out, which I love,” Kadamus said, noting their location away from the main walkways. “God will bring over who He needs to bring.”
New England Prayer Center Co-Director Gina Blaze and her husband, Dan Blaze, have been attending SoulFest since 1998 from Connecticut, where Gina says they’ve served thousands with prayer. She said she feels the organizers met their goals of bringing people together this year and she thinks people are coming away with hope.
“It gives people a chance to rest and have a care-free time, so to speak, for a few days,” she said.
“I think that it helps people to release these things — anxiety, fear, all that stuff.”
Gina Blaze, New England Prayer Center co-director
The perspective Blaze took away from the festival is what Tate said he aimed for this year. A goal of curbing the loneliness epidemic was achieved through seminars and workshops, with Tate saying the Coffee House inside the Roundhouse was of particular interest.
While people from across New England attended the festival, local attendees and vendors were present, too, including Living Waters Assembly of God from Greenfield. Youth Group Leader Carol Levandusky said she feels having this festival locally is “wonderful,” and allows people to learn about their church and programming on Davis Street.
One couple, Gary and Kristi Campbell, came to SoulFest for the first time this year. Gary, a pastor in Connecticut, said that as they are new, they can’t compare the 2025 event to a previous SoulFest experience. However, he appreciated the work by organizers to create a festival for Christian music that he feels is “desperately needed.” He added that it was great to see the festival was so well-supported.
Additionally, Campbell said the diversity in music was a feature he appreciated, noting how it can open up a diversified audience of Christians.
“There are brothers and sisters in Christ in good numbers in both the Black and Latino communities, that if they diversify the music, then I think it would draw other folks in, which would be super cool,” he said.
In reflecting on the three-day weekend, Tate said the festival created the community atmosphere he was hoping to see, with a surprise rainstorm Saturday afternoon making for a unique gathering opportunity for people.
“I never thought I’d be grateful for a rainstorm,” he said.
Some attendees took shelter inside the fairgrounds’ barns while others danced in the rain. Tate said this was an opportunity for people to take a break from their phone screens and enjoy the moment with each other — a goal the festival aimed for. On-site camping was another element of the festival that was new this year and that brought families together.
Tate emphasized that the kindness of Greenfield officials, fairgrounds representatives and the wider community make SoulFest organizers want to continue holding the music festival at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
“Normally, you want the event to be the destination,” Tate reflected. For SoulFest, “kindness and community is the destination you want to invite people to.”