The Walt Disney World Resort announced this morning that it will no longer host the annual Night of Joy, a Christian music festival that has been held there for 35 years.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Night of Joy event will not take place in 2018 and no plans exist to bring another Christian music festival back.
A spokeswoman from Disney confirmed to the Sentinel Thursday that “Last year was our last event.”
When the event began in 1983, it took place at Magic Kingdom Park. For two years, Disney’s Hollywood Studios was where the event was held and for the past two years, it had been held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. You might remember that the event’s second night in 2017 was canceled because of Hurricane Irma making its way to the Orlando area.
The festival has attracted “big names of the Christian-music genre including Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, Newsboys, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Kirk Franklin, Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans, Stryper, and Debby Boone” with TobyMac and MercyMe being among the performers at the final event last year.
Reportedly, eliminating Night of Joy is part of Walt Disney World’s philosophy of “continually changing our offerings,” the Disney World spokeswoman said.
If a visit to Universal Studios is in the cards for you, they hold a two-night, extra-ticket event called Rock the Universe which features Christian artists. That event takes place September 7-8 this year.
Christian artists MercyMe and Tauren Wells are set to perform in the Eat to the Beat concerts series, part of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival this year.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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