Dedicated hopefuls were not disappointed over the past weekend. The 25th annual New Song Music Festival brought with it many surprises.

The Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church sponsors New Song every year. Volunteers for the festival consists of members and pastors from Methodist churches from across the state.

A crowd of almost 4,000 people visited Camp Loucon to enjoy the jam-packed weekend of music and fellowship at New Song.

This year’s event was held on August 13-15. Over 20 performers signed up to entertain the attentive audience.

Festival Chair Ken Hundley felt it was a great way to wrap up his year’s as head of the festivities. Next year First United Methodist Church Youth Pastor Joey Ashby will take over the reins as head of operations.

“All the groups and speakers did a great job for us,” Hundley stressed. “Our 25th year was just as memorable. The storm came through for a few minutes of rain. But a few minutes later a rainbow showed down right on the stage. It was a real affirmation for us. It was really a special moment for the people who had been involved with this for some time. There were pretty strong winds north of us, but all we got was the rain. God blessed us greatly.”

Me in Motion was the headliner for the second stage at New Song on Saturday. Family Force 5 was the headliner for the main stage on Friday, and MercyMe was the main performer on Saturday.

Hundley gave a heads up about New Song 2011. The festival will be changing the performance dates to later in August.

“We are moving to the third weekend in August next year,” Hundley said. “There are three other festivals that land on the second weekend. That is why we wanted to change the date. Next year’s event will be August 19-21.”