Excerpts from a blog by Jay Newman. Click through to read the entire post!
http://badchristian.com/searching-for-cornerstone-festival-in-2015/
“I stood among the cornstalks as they danced in the wind, swaying as though they knew they were rooted in hallowed ground. I stared at them for what must have been hours, moving down the rows as the ghosts of dancers past glided between fields. I came here to see what it looked like now – to see if there was anything left. Over there was where we always camped. And behind me was the food court and Gallery stage. Down the way, past the lake, was where they used to have the Main stage. All of this used to be Cornerstone Festival. Now it’s only corn.”
“For three decades Cornerstone was one of the major Christian music and arts festivals. But it always stood alone within that category. You can listen to veterans of the fest talk about it, read memorials on their blogs, and while no one can quite put their finger on why, everyone agrees this place was different. Ask any of the bands that played. They’ll tell you... The appeal transcended the typical draw of a festival and brought people from vastly differing demographics from gutter punk to pop mainstream and everything in between. This was a place of belonging. There were a lot of reasons for this and I’m sure you can find many who have articulated it better than I can. But the hard reality is that place is gone.”
“Cornerstone is our heritage, but Audiofeed is our future. I am making an appeal here. To all of you who loved Cornerstone, the tens of thousands who attended and felt something like home there, I want you to know you have a new home. The word has been slow to get out but it’s growing. You can go to Bushnell, Illinois and stand among the ghosts – but all that’s really there now is corn. But if you come to Urbana, Illinois on July 1st-4th , you might find something you recognize even though you’ve never seen it before. Come and see.”
