The Shippensburg Fairgrounds were transformed into a budding village of tents and folding chairs as thousands paraded in for a life-changing experience on Sept. 16 and 17.

This year marked Uprise Festival’s 13th year at Shippensburg. Over the years, the event has grown into a large Christian music affair much like Creation Family of Festivals. Due to its increasing size, there are rumors that Uprise will move locations to the Carlisle Fairgrounds and switch to a paid staff, rather than volunteers.

While changes are fast approaching, Uprise still provides a welcoming environment for those across the country. Many church groups traveled far distances to hear the music they sing every Sunday come to life on the grassy hills. Uprise provides a gathering place for Christian groups to rise up and worship their savior each year.

Day 1 was compressed into seven hours with two former “American Idol” singers, a rapper, a handful of up-and-coming bands and radio sensation Chris Tomlin.

Though each audience member came from different paths of life, the artists provided an all-encompassing theme of adversity and overcoming trials. Singer Mandisa revealed body weight insecurities she dealt with growing up. During her time on season five of “American Idol”, Simon Cowell made fun of her heavier figure. Instead of fighting back, she showed him grace and forgiveness.

“We’re living in a world with so much negativity today. You can’t shine out darkness with darkness. But darkness flees when light is present,” Mandisa said.

Unfortunately, the stage changes between each act took long amounts of time and pushed the event behind schedule rather quickly. As a result, each band’s time was cut short and they could not play as many songs as planned.

Despite Uprise’s Christian stigma, it offered a wide array of music which appealed to both church-goers and seculars alike.

While Friday had more headliners, the second day provided versatility through the use of three other stages and the advantage of a full day. Those attending Uprise were no longer limited to a specific genre on the main stage but could taste other styles around the fairgrounds. Off toward the skateboard park, heavy metal bands screamed their hearts out. Behind the main stage, artists flipped around while a DJ mixed popular jams like “Ride” by twenty one pilots.

Most of these bands were known across a wider spectrum with their upbeat tunes and dance party charisma. Instead of the typical swaying and armed raising motions seen in a sanctuary, the crowd erupted, bouncing up and down and even doing the “Chainsaw” dance. Some of the bands took their performance to the next level with T-rex costumes, animated videos and blazing flames.

As always, their prominent artist to close was Christian rock band, Skillet. While Skillet’s performance is always breathtaking, it is usually the same each year and lacks originality. They also used too many light effects, making it hard to see the singers perform. Despite all that, there were still dedicated fans flooding the mosh pit with their handmade signs and even a giant skillet.

Saturday’s string of artists expressed a message of rising up which was literally seen through glowing finger rockets and Skillet’s lifting podiums. The singers kept emphasizing how even if you feel like giving up, to rise up and flip to a new page.

Skillet lead singer, John Cooper, brought up the country’s upcoming change- the election. Cooper said how even if the new president makes the country better, “it’s not true lasting hope. There is only one true hope of the earth, his name is Jesus Christ.”

In addition to the bands performing, the fairgrounds were filled with food booths, merchandise vendors, inflatables and even a petting zoo.

Several companies sponsored Uprise, allowing them to keep tickets at a reasonable price. One of the main sponsors was Cure International, which heals disabled children both physically and spiritually.

During an intermission, a speaker came up to talk about the organization and even skyped in with JV, a young boy who had bowed legs. The audience had difficulty hearing JV due to technical issues, but it was still neat to see a child that was impacted by the organization. Cure set out to recruit 100 sponsor heroes, people willing to donate $35 a month to help children with diseases. Around 7 p.m. Saturday they were at 5 and by the end of the night they reached their goal.

Uprise implemented social media very well with posts across all platforms. To encourage people to post and follow them they gave away prizes like an opportunity to dance on stage with Family Force 5 and meet-ad-greet passes.

The weekend extravaganza came to an abrupt halt with no encore from Skillet. The crowd was ushered out of the fairgrounds in a hurry as the vendors packed up and the stage was taken apart piece by piece. Since there were no volunteers directing car flow, the parking lot was a big traffic jam and left many waiting for a while. Overall , Uprise had yet another great year, but is on the verge of something even bigger outside of the Shippensburg realms. 

Share