More than 1,000 people are expected at the annual Reach the Beach Christian music festival this weekend, an event put on annually by the Revere Central Congregation Church.
Organizers Joe DeSantis and Tom Coots said that the event started on Monday and continued throughout the week with refreshments and Christian outreach to those walking the Beach or strolling the Boulevard.
That, both said, is a crucial piece of the event.
“There are a lot of lost souls out there who are hungry and we believe that in order to feed them spiritually we have to first feed them physically,” said Coots.
They also mentioned that they are getting help this year from a number of young people from Revere.
“We have a lot of teen-agers and young adults coming out to help out,” said DeSantis.
“That’s exciting to get the young people involved,” said Coots. “We have three or four young people from Revere High School helping out now and more plan to participate. That’s important because it’s one thing for an older guy like me to talk to a young person about God, but it’s a whole other thing when another young person approached them and speaks to them in their language.”
This year there are more than 30 area churches participating in the festival and 12 churches that are contributing to the effort.
DeSantis said that the event has grown larger every year, and this year it has really become a Christian music festival with just about every kind of music represented, from rap to folk to rock.
“The streets will all be blocked off down the Beach and it’s a Christian music festival with a lot of excitement and something for everybody music wise,” he said.
The main act this year will be the hard rock band The Wrecking, which will go on at the Bandstand around 4:45 p.m. Saturday.
There will be numerous acts and dance groups, including a competitive dance group from Revere High School that performs crumping (a new style of breakdancing).
Other acts on Saturday include Tom Conlon, Maeve, DJ Tripple Threat and Bobby Bishop.
Throughout the rest of the week, there will be puppet shows, a drama team from the Lynnfield Calvary Church and a juggling act from a church in Maine.
On Thursday, the festival will be working in conjunction with the Farmer’s Market for its Kid’s Day.
For more detailed information, visit the website www.reachthebeach.org.