Friends Alison Blanshine and Melissa Hershey seemed to have the whole hillside to themselves here Thursday, as they took turns under their umbrella to block the midday sun.
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That would change when evening came, but for now, the two Lancaster countians were surrounded on all sides by an amphitheater of empty blankets and chairs, their owners off in the shade somewhere.
But the two women were still cheerful as they tried to stay cool, since they were enjoying "a chance to be renewed spiritually," as Blanshine put it.
"Coming here is a way to focus on God, and to focus on your life with him," the Lancaster resident said.
There also was a concert she was looking forward to later in the day by popular worship artist Chris Tomlin, and a message by inspirational speaker Joyce Meyer.
There was all that and more at the annual Creation Festival, a celebration of Christian music, culture and teaching, which had its first full day here Thursday and continues through Saturday in the hills of west-central Pennsylvania.
Moments later, the Christian rock band Fee began an energy-filled 40-minute set, and a horde of tweens and teens rushed to the front of the huge stage, as if making their way to a mosh pit.
But instead of sweaty bodies in a spiral of carnage, what they found after they got there was band leader Steve Fee exhorting them from the stage to be available for God.
Because "that is the greatest place that we can find ourselves in this life," he said, and then launched his band into a rock version of the old hymn, "How Great Thou Art."
For long-time and first-time Creation-goers, this was some of what they have come to expect at the festival, meeting this week for the 31st time.
Lori Hultman, of Brockway, Jefferson County, came because her husband, Chuck, and son Shawn, now 12, have been coming for several years, and she also wanted to be part of "a God-filled environment."
It was good to be somewhere you could get recharged, plus not have to worry about the language for your kids, she said, pointing to her son and her 10-year-old daughter, Erin.
The festival is a change to be renewed, "like the 'restore' point that you can do on a computer ... you can always clean up everything and have a restart," Bryan McClain, of Slippery Rock, said.
Many Lancaster countians who make the two-and-a-half-hour trek west are among the many thousands expected to congregate here before Creation ends late Saturday night.
And while the crowd seemed a little small Thursday, that may have just been because of the heat and humidity that gripped this area just like it did the Garden Spot, and the crowds may pick up before the festival ends, some predicted.
There was still a spirit of camaraderie, Lancastrian Blanshine noted, typified by the little kids she saw picking things up from the ground: "It's great ... everybody still works together."
While Fee played, 15-year-old Lititz Christian School student Rachel Peters said, or yelled, that she likes Creation because, "I love being with my friends, and I love the music."
Lisa Pataski, of Reynoldsville, Pa., had had a rough week at work and told her boss, "I need to get some Jesus in me," so came to Creation.
The festival had started late Wednesday afternoon, and earlier acts included the hard-rock band Skillet Wednesday night and sister folk-rock duo the Sonflowerz earlier Thursday.
The festival continues through Saturday, with the featured act tonight the hugely popular band, Third Day, at about 10:20, followed by a candle-lighting service featuring the band.
Saturday's full schedule includes up-and-coming bands Needtobreathe at 1 p.m. and hard-rock band Red at 2, and popular hard-rockers Kutless at 8:50 p.m.
Casting Crowns, which along with Third Day is among Christian music's most popular bands, closes the day and the show at 10:15 p.m.
Visit www.creationfest.com for details.
Cindy Faust, of Catawissa, with Joanne Rogers, of Elysburg, and others from her church, was there Thursday, and said the theme of Creation now is much like it was back in 1986, when she came for the first time.
"We never take time to stop and truly worship God, and this is a place that we can."
Staff writer David O'Connor can be reached at doconnor@LNPnews.com or 481-6033.
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