It’s hard to let a vision die, says Niall Dunne. But until it does, nothing can grow up in its place. That’s why he’s trusting God’s still small voice as the festival he leads gathers together to celebrate their final event in its current form - and usher in a new season of mission in the south west of England
This year, we’re celebrating a quarter of a century of Creation Fest, a Christian festival that happens every August in Cornwall. Originally born out of mission to surfers and skaters in North Devon, the festival was founded by Phil Pechonis and Brian Brodersen, two pastors from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, in California.
After Phil died suddenly in 2014, Sarah Yardley took the reins for a ten year period, and I’ve now been leading it for the past two. For all of those 25 years, we have been committed to maintaining our missional DNA, making the festival free to those who are exploring faith.
For the past few years, we’ve faced a very challenging reality. Last Autumn, it came to a head: unless something miraculous happened, we wouldn’t be able to carry on. So we ran a crowdfunding campaign, and something miraculous did happen: we raised over £70,000 in just two weeks. It was a very clear mandate to continue our mission and host our 25th festival.
Returning to our roots
Interestingly though, the most existential questions remained, and perhaps became even more pertinent. Firstly, how could Creation Fest became more financially sustainable? And, secondly, how could we grow our missional impact locally, in the south west?
Post-covid, the cost of running a festival has risen considerably. Even in the two years that I’ve been leading Creation Fest, the cost increases have been dramatic. It won’t be a surprise to anyone, because so has my family’s food shopping, and the cost of the petrol we need to get us to work and school each week. Many organisations, businesses and individuals are feeling the financial squeeze. Earier this month, The Times reported that the number of music festivals in the UK has fallen from nearly 1,000 before the pandemic to just 592 today.
The birthing pains of new vision are uncomfortable. It feels like wrestling. It’s frustrating
Yet alongside that challenge, we also live in the paradoxical reality that God’s economy is often different to ours. The incredible outpouring that we saw as a result of our crowdfunder is the perfect example of this. God can and will provide for whatever He calls us to do.
So the question that I, and the Creation Fest team, have been asking God a lot this year is: What are you calling us to? Do we just finish and have a big party to celebrate 25 incredible years (and believe me - there’s a lot to celebrate!) or are You leading us into something new?
A new wave
It felt as if there was something more to come, but the birthing pains of new vision are uncomfortable. It feels like wrestling. It’s frustrating. Someone gave me a word from 1 Kings 19, where Elijah is waiting on the presence of God, and a great wind, an earthquake and a fire all come, but the presence of God isn’t in them. It comes in the form of a whisper. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the noise sometimes, but we need to tune in to God’s still small voice.
For me, the whisper came in the form of coffee with a friend, who heard me sharing all that was going on and simply said: “Niall, from what you’re saying, it sounds like, rather than asking everyone to come to us, Creation Fest needs to go to them.” Suddenly I could see a new season: a prophetic vision, not only for Creation Fest as an organisation, but for our region of Cornwall and Devon. For my town and my street.
God can and will provide for whatever He calls us to do
The question became not: “How do we get as many people to come to our festival as possible?” Instead, we’re asking: “How can Creation Fest genuinely partner with the Church in Cornwall and Devon to seize this missional moment in our region? How can we equip Christians to love their neighbour as themselves, and what does that look like? How can we stand with the church locally in the mission to their town or village?”
For Creation Fest, this looks like developing a new vision. And we’ll be enlisting the churches in our region to help shape it, in order for it to live and breathe and be locally owned. We’ll be sharing more detail at the festival this year, but if ever there was a time to make bold moves with missional intention, it feels like now.
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