Madison’s Brat Fest, billed as the World’s Largest Brat Fest, is growing into a regional Memorial Day attraction. Among the developments announced today was the addition of a Christian music stage for the 2014 festival and a Sunday morning commmunity worship service.
Brat Fest director Tim Metcalfe met with about 50 local pastors and Christian business leaders for breakfast this morning and unveiled details of a number of developments that will make Brat Fest a much larger annual celebration for the Memorial Day weekend. Of highest interest was the connection to the mid-July Christian music festival that has been held at Oshkosh for the past 16 years. “We’ve been working for six months to bring Lifest to Brat Fest,” Metcalfe said.
A new stage that will feature Christian musicians and groups will be added to the Brat Fest lineup this year, and it will be the stage on the immediate right of all who enter the Brat Fest grounds. Brat Fest staff are working with Lifest staff to select the performers. No names have been announced yet.
The Mercy Me Connection
Metcalfe said that the Christian band Mercy Me is one of his top priorities to perform at Brat Fest. The band is not expected this year but will eventually make an appearance.
Each year a group of local business leaders sponsors a bus trip to Lifest for Madison youth. Last year Metcalfe went along. “I’m a festival guy so the logistics interested me,” he said. “I went there with my eyes wide open and my heart was open.”
Metcalfe admitted he was familiar with only one song by a Christian band, “I can only imagine,” by Mercy Me. The song was sung at his father’s funeral. He was looking forward to hearing Mercy Me’s music but instead he heard a message of mercy, a gospel presentation by a band member. He was struck by the statement, “What if it’s true? It changes everything.”
“That was my moment,” he said. “From that moment I have dedicated my life to following Christ.” He hopes others will be touched by the message of the Christian musicians who will be on the Lifest stage at Brat Fest.
Brat Fest’s Charities
More than 100 Madison area charities have benefitted from money raised at Brat Fest. The charities provide the volunteers that cook, serve the food, and clean up. In turn they have received more than $1 million of Brat Fest proceeds. Special Olympics, one of the most active volunteer groups, received $26,000 last year.
Kevin Metcalfe, Tim’s brother, outlined some of the other additions to Brat Fest this year:
- A new Kid Zone for kids to play in
- An expanded Midway
- A volleyball tournament (Brattey Ball)
- A 10K race
- 400 camping sites set up nearby
- A Sunday morning community worship service
There will continue to be fireworks at Brat Fest at 9pm Sunday. And the Metcalfes said that they are working on plans for a community-wide Brat Fest softball tournament for 2015.
Community Support
The Metcalfes are inviting the local Christian community to take advantage of this opportunity to be a witness to Madison. They asking for prayer support and also inviting believers to help promote the Christian musicians through social media.
“The quality of music and the variety of music is going to be unbelievable,” Tim Metcalfe pledged. “Join us in this mission.”
Volunteers are also needed. And Christian businesses have the opportunity to donate to Brat Fest and become sponsors. Anyone seeking more information is invited to contact Brat Fest Development Director Betsy Ezell betsy@bratfest.com/608-345-2200.
Right Here in Madison
“God is up to something in our community,” said pastor Alex Gee, of Fountain of Life Community Church, who opened the meeting with a prayer.
Gee himself has seen a great community response to an expression of his own concerns about the needs of Madison’s minority communities.
“What we’re seeing now is the result of years and years of prayer by spiritual giants,” Gee said. He prayed “for a unity that would show our city that Jesus is Lord and that thousands of lives would be saved.”
Tim Metcalfe talks about Brat Fest: