| Written by David Wang, The Catholic Register,
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Views : 553  |
 In the next few months, there will be a lot of opportunities to check out your favourite Catholic artists at great events. There will be a real focus on music at the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 15-22, a Best Band contest with Radio Maria in Maple, Ont., on June 7 and numerous events going on at the same time as World Youth Day in Australia in dioceses all over Canada on July 18-20. A quick Google search should be able to pull up information about these and other local events in your neighbourhood. (See also http://www.catholicrock.com/tour-dates.html)
A very exciting event that I want to focus on is happening in Madoc, Ont., a small community near Belleville. Monkfest started five years ago as an alternative to another nearby festival called Punkfest. Inspired by WYD 2002 in Toronto, Colleen MacAlister of St. Francis House in Madoc decided to put on a Christian festival that was open to all youth.
“Monkfest was to set a different measure where youth could have fun without drugs and alcohol, free of hate and violence, where virtue and modesty were expected and encouraged,” said MacAlister.
There were some simple rules. Any band could play but they had to vow to not sing about negative messages and without profanities. Even in the first year, the concept was successful with 150 youth in attendance.
This lead to incredibly eclectic lineups. Secular punk bands with clean or cleaned-up lyrics performed side by side with Christian praise and worship artists. Screamo alternated with pop. In the midst of this joyful cacophony was a place for God as well. There was a prayer garden and, on Sunday morning, there is Mass, all without pressure on the youth to attend. Hearts have been changed and those kids with faith had a place to have fun and be safe.
“Even the bands have had experiences,” said MacAlister. “Mainstream bands had to adhere to the no bad language and message rules of Monkfest and they loved it. They were also touched.”
This year, MacAlister has stepped out in faith and Monkfest is about to enter a new chapter.
“We have been invited to be part of the larger Madoc community. We support Foundations (www.sandamianofoundation.ca) and for over 10 years, we have served a lot of meals in several communities and have held many youth events. Now, the local Chamber of Commerce has invited us to use the Madoc Fairgrounds as the location for MonkFest.”
This could prove to be very fruitful as there is a very large Catholic community near the event, with no similar Catholic/Christian music festival anywhere in the vicinity.
One major change is that there is an increased presence of Catholic artists who will be appearing at the event. A very exciting development is that a new Catholic record label, Mediatrix Records from Michigan, will be sponsoring the event and is bringing its entire slate of artists down to the event to introduce them to a Canadian audience (www.mediatrixrecords.com). Other than covering expenses, all the bands attending the event are waiving their normal fees in order to help support the event and the causes they are supporting. There will be numerous displays and booths as well as a Stations of the Cross, Confession and Mass.
I strongly encourage anyone in the vicinity of Madoc to come out to this event that is taking place on May 24. Check out www.MonkFest.com for the latest updates and information. As a bonus, this is probably the most affordable event I have ever seen, with only $10 per person or $25 per family for the event. This is a great opportunity for youth groups, confirmation classes, families, scouts, brownies, 4H etc. to come out.
A positive message in a wonderful environment for worthy causes. Who could ask for more?
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