Spirit Song no more??

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I don't like making a thread like this, but this has been on my mind for the last year or so. Since like the 90's KI has hosted this annual Christian music festival in Timberwolf called Spiritsong. The event was originally cancelled in 2020 due to covid 19, but however was not scheduled at all in 2021 and the organizers "Premier Festivals" which are a festival company that puts on the other Christian events at the other CF parks like Pointfest (CP) and Kingsfest (KD) they also put on Rock the Smokies at Dollywood which also weren't scheduled for 2021 never said a single word about it. It is now mid February and usually they are throwing out advertisements for these events, but again nothing has been said about it. Universal recently hosted their christian music festival so it is not like parks aren't hosting these events now. So that makes me wonder, could Covid have killed Spiritsong for good? The main reason I'm bringing this up is that the event's facebook page is still active, but when they are asked about it, they don't respond. Obviously, nothing is confirmed as the organizers haven't made any official announcement yet, but I'm honestly a bit surprised not many people are talking about this as Spiritsong was an event that brought a bunch of people mainly groups to the park and people plan trips around this event. If Spiritsong is in fact no more, maybe that could explain all the rumors that have circulated over the past year or so in threads and stuff surrounding Timberwolf. We'll see what happens though. 

[purdude86]

As much as it would suck for those that enjoyed going, it seemed like such a waste of space for Timberwolf just to host this single event. If it’s gone maybe they can finally tear that down and expand/revamp Action Zone (hopefully with a retheme too).

 

[BoddaH1994]

My understanding is that Spirit Song, since 2000 or so, would sell out immediately. Once it got to 2010-ish, it would ultimately sell out, but not until the last minute. After 2014 or so, Thursday would not sell out, Friday was hit or miss and Saturday would sell out. The parent company was in financial trouble before covid, and I believe they filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the pandemic. I don't know what the future of the event will be. Even if the company goes belly-up, I'm SURE there is another Christian music promotion that would be willing to organize the event. Only problem is, the venue may only sit empty for a little while before it became a tempting expansion target. I do not believe that there are plans to redevelop the area, but if it has zero events, it's a large plot of land, and has street visibility... how could that discussion not come up eventually?

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

My understanding is that Spirit Song, since 2000 or so, would sell out immediately. Once it got to 2010-ish, it would ultimately sell out, but not until the last minute. After 2014 or so, Thursday would not sell out, Friday was hit or miss and Saturday would sell out. The parent company was in financial trouble before covid, and I believe they filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the pandemic. I don't know what the future of the event will be. Even if the company goes belly-up, I'm SURE there is another Christian music promotion that would be willing to organize the event. Only problem is, the venue may only sit empty for a little while before it became a tempting expansion target. I do not believe that there are plans to redevelop the area, but if it has zero events, it's a large plot of land, and has street visibility... how could that discussion not come up eventually?

While Premier Festivals seems to be the official organizer, Spirit Song, PointFest, etc are still listed as part of the Christian Festival Association. Also, if Spirit Song themselves dies, if the park and corporate really wanted to, they could honestly try and organize their own Christian or standard music festival in general similar to like what Universal does. In fact Universal's, is much bigger and has multiple stages. I think "Rock the Island" has a nice ring to it even though I believe there already is a rock the island festival somewhere, but I believe there is more than one Pointfest out there. 

[MDMC01]

If they did have a concert with multiple stages, they could have a Christian music stage as part of that, if only as a throwback to SpiritSong being at the park for so many years. However, I'm not sure what stages would be used for said concert...

[purdude86]

11 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

While Premier Festivals seems to be the official organizer, Spirit Song, PointFest, etc are still listed as part of the Christian Festival Association. Also, if Spirit Song themselves dies, if the park and corporate really wanted to, they could honestly try and organize their own Christian or standard music festival in general similar to like what Universal does. In fact Universal's, is much bigger and has multiple stages. I think "Rock the Island" has a nice ring to it even though I believe there already is a rock the island festival somewhere, but I believe there is more than one Pointfest out there. 

If Kings Island organized their own festival, I hope they would try to do multiple ones for different genres. If they are doing something for that why not try to utilize that area more for additional use. Would be nice even to just seem them utilize it for seasonal shows like their other venues in the parks. It just seems like such wasted space to not be utilized except for one weekend a year. Other space was available before so they didn't need to touch it (and could still go awhile without). However, the entire land is in desperate need of a resfresh and if Congo Falls (and potentially Invertigo) got removed along with Timberwolf it would open up a massive area for them to use. You could easily fit a new coaster and multiple flats in that area.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Rock the Smokies which is a sister festival to Spirit Song run by the same organizers that takes place at Dollywood is back this year. So maybe a little glimpse of hope for Spirit Song and other events going forward...we'll see. 

https://www.facebook.com/rockthesmokies

[nothanks]

How about just don't do any more Christian music festivals and leave that stuff to the churches.  

[cdubbs727]

When I was younger, we'd travel from Detroit to do Spirit Song every year (I was in my twenties and could handle three days of amusement parks and concerts). It was great; we'd camp at the Kings Island campground for a few days, and alternate between roller coaster and concerts. It was the best of all both worlds. 

I listen to much less Christian music these days, and the idea of spending three sweltering days at an amusement park with church youth groups doesn't really sound all too appealing anymore (although my wife and I had discussed maybe taking our kids one day). Plus, as others have said, it's kind of a waste of a venue to have it standing for just one music festival each summer -- tear Timberwolf down if it's not going to get use. Michigan's Adventure makes good use of their wave pool for similar events in the fall, and I know Cedar Point has built a stage for concerts. KI could look into that. 

That said, it has a nostalgic pull for me, so I'd still be sad to hear it was canceled (even if I don't know 99% of the groups anymore). 

[jermflame77]

I saw a post today that Kings Island is having individual concerts throughout the summer but no mention of Spiritsong.  

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

19 hours ago, jermflame77 said:

I saw a post today that Kings Island is having individual concerts throughout the summer but no mention of Spiritsong.  

Skillet is coming at the end of July with an opening act for them. So basically it could be like Spirit Song. 

[Oldschool75]

Skillet is coming at the end of July with an opening act for them. So basically it could be like Spirit Song. 

Except the park wouldn’t be overrun with SS people. Lol


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[Robin]

I've been checking every years.  We loved this event.  With the Ark open I bet it would draw larger  crowds. Someone bring it back!!   

[BeeastFarmer]

The Ark Park is having a music festival of their own--40 days of music or something of that sort.  40 Days And Nights Of Gospel Music (40daysofgospelmusic.com)

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Straight from the Spirit Song website: Looks like it's back folks! 

https://www.spiritsongfest.com/

[Bwb.32]

overall with the lack of usage, I'm surprised Kings Island hasn't partnered with Livenation yet to bring some shows to Timberwolf, i mean the companies best performing outdoor amphitheater by capacity is 2 hours away, the routing for some shows to skip Cleveland and instead go to Timberwolf before or after Ruoff Music Center makes too much sense, sure not every show, but theres a decent potential for market overlap with certain artists that could really bring people out to Kings Island for the day before the concert

 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

11 minutes ago, Bwb.32 said:

overall with the lack of usage, I'm surprised Kings Island hasn't partnered with Livenation yet to bring some shows to Timberwolf, i mean the companies best performing outdoor amphitheater by capacity is 2 hours away, the routing for some shows to skip Cleveland and instead go to Timberwolf before or after Ruoff Music Center makes too much sense, sure not every show, but theres a decent potential for market overlap with certain artists that could really bring people out to Kings Island for the day before the concert

 

Live nation is already used for Riverbend though. I'm sure the park has tried, but with how outdated the venue is no matter how many times they try to fix it up, I believe live nation themselves know that artists would choose Riverbend over Timberwolf. Plus Riverbend has more than twice the amount of capacity than TW especially with the large grass area. 

[beastfan11]

But I thought Timberwolf was being torn down for a Mack multi-launch? 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

17 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

But I thought Timberwolf was being torn down for a Mack multi-launch? 

Ikr we hear this every single year. Like how long has Timberwolf been rumored to be removed? Probably since Paramount owned the park. I think we should all accept that Timberwolf is likely not to be removed unless they absolutely need the space which Kings Island does not lack at all (there's literally a big empty hole in the back of the park that would be perfect for a multi launch). Plus, even if it's not every day or always big concerts, they still use Timberwolf for Music in the Parks as well as select events like Spirit Song or the concert series from last year, They also use the stage for WF/Haunt assembly. 

EDIT: Another thing I might add about the screenshot/link is there is no date set yet so don't take this like an official announcement. They have yet to post about it on their social medias. I'd take this as evidence pointing towards it returning, but not 100% confirmation. I just noticed the site changed from "Spirit Song will be back" to "see you in 2023". Very likely them getting the site ready for an announcement, but again nothing is confirmed until they announce it for themselves which if I were to recall, it was around this time in 2020 they announced the dates and the lineup for the 2020 festival which of course ended up getting canceled due to covid. 

[Taylor.B03]

Going to be watching this one very carefully!

[Bwb.32]

5 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Live nation is already used for Riverbend though. I'm sure the park has tried, but with how outdated the venue is no matter how many times they try to fix it up, I believe live nation themselves know that artists would choose Riverbend over Timberwolf. Plus Riverbend has more than twice the amount of capacity than TW especially with the large grass area. 

yeah, we have a TCU as well which brings is about 9,000 cap, so its not as if bands that would benefit from a venue the capacity Timberwolf is dont come through, just curious i guess, seems it more likely this would've happened by now, that as it is, not having happened.

its not like theyre going to force KI into anything either, they can piecemeal decide which shows theyd be willing to host at timberwolf, although it does come with the caveat of not being able to book anything from AEG

 

honestly the biggest thing KI would benefit from if they wanted to properly take use of the venue space is to add some actual permanent greenrooms/administrative management space and improve the backstage area with a proper enclosed dock and loading bay

probably should repave the whole seating section too,

and no one likes benches lol

when i visited for the Berlin concert recently i realized how much untapped potential KI has with timberwolf, a really sick venue (given some real TLC) with the huge selling point of being attached to Kings Island

[BoddaH1994]

9 hours ago, Bwb.32 said:

yeah, we have a TCU as well which brings is about 9,000 cap, so its not as if bands that would benefit from a venue the capacity Timberwolf is dont come through, just curious i guess, seems it more likely this would've happened by now, that as it is, not having happened.

its not like theyre going to force KI into anything either, they can piecemeal decide which shows theyd be willing to host at timberwolf, although it does come with the caveat of not being able to book anything from AEG

 

honestly the biggest thing KI would benefit from if they wanted to properly take use of the venue space is to add some actual permanent greenrooms/administrative management space and improve the backstage area with a proper enclosed dock and loading bay

probably should repave the whole seating section too,

and no one likes benches lol

when i visited for the Berlin concert recently i realized how much untapped potential KI has with timberwolf, a really sick venue (given some real TLC) with the huge selling point of being attached to Kings Island

I went to half of the concerts last year - some by choice, some by chance. I can attest that, despite all of its flaws, there is some sort of magic to the venue. 
 

I really hope it comes back for 2023.

[KIBeast]

On 4/12/2022 at 2:33 PM, nothanks said:

How about just don't do any more Christian music festivals and leave that stuff to the churches.  

Curious, but why do you care? I simply don't attend concerts I am not interested in. They have as much right as any other festival or musical act. I've been attending KI since year 2 and haven't been able to justify attending any concert there, Christian or otherwise, when I come for the rides. However, many people enjoy this kind of activity and it seems to make money, so I have no issue with it. To add to this, I would also be ok with a Muslim themed concert or any other religion, for that matter.

[Taylor.B03]

SPIRITSONG | Facebook

Hmmmmmmmmmm

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

12 minutes ago, Taylor.B03 said:

SPIRITSONG | Facebook

Hmmmmmmmmmm

Newsboys may have given away one of the dates from their Instagram: 

 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

**DOUBLE POST** 

We have another confirmed band and leaked date. This time Cain on June 15. 

https://www.caintheband.com/#tour

[disco2000]

SpiritSong already confirmed it via their logo LOL so all that is left for them to announce are dates and acts LOL

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

20 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

SpiritSong already confirmed it via their logo LOL so all that is left for them to announce are dates and acts LOL

Funny they put Blue Fire in the background of their 2023 logo lol. You would've thought they would've put Orion in the background with it being the first SS event since Orion opened...

[BeeastFarmer]

I dont think they are that concerned with being that specific.  They probably just chose a stock coaster image...but if it was intentional, this coaster seems more attention grabbing than Orion...I'm not downgrading Orion, but it is hard to capture the enormity of a GiGa coaster in this context.

But, in any case, I am very happy that Spirit Song is returning.  I am never able to go because of work, but I know you really enjoy it @Hawaiian Coasters 325 and will have a blast!

[SonofBaconator]

44 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Funny they put Blue Fire in the background of their 2023 logo lol. You would've thought they would've put Orion in the background with it being the first SS event since Orion opened...

Cedar Fair uses coasters from other parks as well. I remember seeing a European Mack on KI’s app once.