By Maria Pisano • Posted September 4, 2019

The sixth annual AbbeyFest: Faith, Music & Family Festival returns to Daylesford Abbey in Paoli on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Organized collaboratively by the Norbertine community of priests and brothers and several local parishes, the event stretches from noon until 9:30 p.m. The celebration of contemporary Catholic/Christian music, faith and family is expected to draw a crowd numbering some 5,000.

[hotblock]

Co-headlining the festival on their only Philadelphia-area appearance is Mac Powell and the Family Reunion. Fans interested in seeing the band should arrive to AbbeyFest early because they will be starting at 2 p.m.

Along with Powell — the former front man of Third Day — is GMA Dove Award-winner and Grammy-nominated artist Matt Maher, returning to AbbeyFest for the fifth time.

The festival lineup also includes Hannah Schaefer, hip-hop artist Joe Melendrez and Australian singer, speaker and songwriter Father Rob Galea.

Tickets can be purchased for the lowest price in advance online at theabbeyfest.com. They will also be available for a higher price at the door.

According to key organizer Mark Christmyer, the purpose of AbbeyFest is to provide a place where Catholics and Christians can praise and encounter Jesus. “Music moves the soul,” said Christmyer, a parishioner at St. Norbert Parish in Paoli and the parish’s communications director.

The fun and energetic environment is especially suited to draw kids, families, teens and youth groups into the beauty, truth and goodness of Christ.

The highlight of the Christ-centered day will be an outdoor Mass featuring music from FireHill Worship in the afternoon, followed in the evening by a eucharistic candlelight procession, Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Confessions will be heard throughout the day and evening by Norbertine, archdiocesan and other order priests. Prayer and healing teams will also be available.

In addition to world-renowned music, dozens of Christian vendors, food trucks and family-friendly activities will be featured. Designated playing fields will be set aside for games like Frisbee, soccer, touch football and cornhole. 

AbbeyFest is a nonprofit and completely volunteer organization. More than 300 volunteers are needed to run the massive event, and still more are needed now with only two weeks to go. Those interested in volunteering can visit theabbeyfest.com.

College student Lynn Krieger is volunteering at AbbeyFest for the second year in a row. Reflecting on last year’s AbbeyFest, Krieger said, “It was great to see the energy everyone had and how excited they were, and it was contagious.

“I’m volunteering again this year because I believe this event brings people closer to God, whether it’s through the vendors, artists, confession, musicians, adoration or the Mass,” she said.