The 20th Anniversary Fall Gospel Festival will take place at the Heartland Church in Sun Prairie on Saturday, Nov. 9.
“The entertainment is going to be great. Obviously, Fall Gospel Fest delivers on messages of hope, encouragement, determination …it’s uplifting, very inspirational,” Clyde Gaines, the longtime organizer of Fall Gospel Fest, tells Madison365. “It’s good to get a chance to fellowship with other folks you normally wouldn’t fellowship with. So you get to meet some new friends, get together with some old friends.”
The event will once again be hosted by PeBoGa (People Building Opportunity through Grace and Action). Gaines founded PeBoGa in the fall of 2004, and the organization began its quest to develop and implement positive activities for local youth by providing services to the Madison community in the form of mentoring, athletics and music concerts.
Over the years, the Fall Gospel Festival has grown into a cherished celebration of faith, music, and community and has had a rich legacy of hosting gospel’s greatest icons over the years like Marvin Sapp, Keke Sheard, Jonathan McReynolds, Tasha Cobbs, Ricky Dillard, Jekalyn Carr, and Tamela Mann.
“It’s been an incredible 20-year run on something that started out as a one-time thought process or a one-time occurrence,” Gaines says.
The very first Gospel Fest event was held at the Performing Arts Center at Middleton High School. Gaines remembers the impetus for the event was to bring national award-winning artists to Madison so people wouldn’t have to travel to Chicago or Milwaukee to see them.
“When we started this, I had no idea that it would continue for 20 years, because that wasn’t the vision at the time. It was just to bring live entertainment through gospel to Madison, and that was it,” Gaines says. “There were no thoughts of future events or anything like that at the time. So it’s pretty amazing that we’ve been able to carry it on for two decades bringing in award-winning artists to Madison.
“We had four great artists that first event and when it was done, people would ask, ‘So, when is the next one?’” Gaines laughs. ‘People really enjoyed it. We listened to all of the encouragement to have another one and so we did … and then another, then another, then another…”.
And now, Gospel Fest has made it to year 20. This year, one of the featured artists will be Hezekiah Walker, a Grammy Award-winning gospel music artist, and the founder and leader of the Love Fellowship Choir.
“We are also going to have very talented artists by the name of Jermaine Dolly who had three number-one hits on the gospel billboard charts and we are going to have Amber Bullock, who is the Sunday Best winner for season four. Sunday Best Gospel show aired for several years.
“We will also have comedian Willie Brown, a ventriloquist, and then DJ Ace, of course, she’s been featured at these events many times,” Gaines says “We’re looking to have a great time. This will be Hezekiah Walker’s first venture to Madison, as well as Amber Bullock and Jermaine Dolly.”
PeBoGa hosts many positive community events in the Madison area including the Park Street Music Festival and Fall Gospel Fest.
“After all these years, I still really enjoy putting these events on for the community. I love to see people in situations where they are enjoying themselves with family and friends, and they’re making new friends, because that’s what it’s all about,” Gaines says. “It’s about living your life and enjoying your life to the fullest. This event is good way to be able to communicate with others and be in a positive state of mind as you engage with others and feel good about the situation that you’re in. So we hope that these events bring joy and positivity to the lives of those who attend.”
Tickets for Fall Gospel Fest are $42 and can be purchased here. Heartland Church of Sun Prairie is located at 800 Wilburn Rd.
“Fall Gospel Fest is a very social event and a very positive event. We generally have positive messages regarding health care and stuff like that at the event. We have some community messages involved as well,” Gaines says. “It’s a good opportunity to be able to spend time with your family and friends and get to make some new friends. We can’t wait to see people come out this year for our 20th anniversary.”
