Festival planned for summer in Manchester

A WEEKLONG Christian event combining social outreach into Manchester's inner city communities and a family weekend festival featuring the best of contemporary Christian music is planned for August 2003. Festival: Manchester, organised by the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association and The Message Trust will be held on 25th-31st August and will mobilise large numbers of young Christians to put their faith into action, transforming deprived inner city communities. This Festival On The Streets will operate on a similar model to Message 2000 when 10,000 young Christians came to Manchester. After this week of going out, the whole city will be invited to the weekend open air Festival In The Park (Sat 30th-Sun 31st August) at Heaton Park. There will be a huge music stage, food court, sports arenas, fun fair, skate park and exhibition tents. Christian leaders will bring messages of hope and inspiration for the people. A massive media campaign will promote the event through TV, radio, billboards and newspapers.

A dedicated field in Heaton Park will be prepared for this element of the event. Saturday will have a youth focus with Sunday geared more towards family groups. Said a spokesperson for the organisers, "Crowds of 50,000 people have turned out for the American festivals and we're hoping to match that in a city of 2.5 million people". The Message's Andy Hawthorne is pictured with evangelist Luis Palau. CR

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