According to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), the East Coast Festival 2004 will be held in the Halifax metro Center, Nova Scotia on Oct 15-17, 2004. The event will be hosted by Franklin Graham, along with local church and civic leaders.
The announcement of the Festivals was made on November 4, 2003 in presence of more than 200 clergy and church leaders from the Greater Halifax area. During the announcement, Mr. Bruce J. Havill was placed in charge of overseeing the nine-month Festival preparation process.
Havill, a local business leader said, “I am looking forward to the East Coast Festival with Franklin Graham for two reasons: The church in greater Halifax needs to clearly recognize a oneness, and give that oneness greater expression by working together in such a project as a Festival. Secondly, there are many people in our city that need to hear the good news about God's love as demonstrated in Jesus.”
Franklin Graham Festivals are three-day events featuring messages of hope from Franklin Graham, coupled with energetic and inspirational music. The Festivals event started in 1989 when Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham preached to a large crowd at an evangelistic Festival in Juneau, Alaska.
Since then, Franklin has led an average of seven evangelistic Festivals each year for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). To date, he has led more than 90 Festivals in locations from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Tupelo, Miss. Franklin’s 2004 Festival schedule includes events in Durban, South Africa; Bakersfield, Calif.; Tijuana, Mexico; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Temuco, Chile, speaking to more than 3.5 million people.
Graham expressed his excitement about this upcoming event in Halifax when he was asked to comment about it. “I look forward to bringing God’s message of hope to Halifax, people will hear a lot of music from award-winning artists, personal testimony, and most importantly, an opportunity to accept a challenge that will change their life.”
All Festival programs will be open to the public and free of charge.
