Cornerstone Festival 2002 Drew 25,000 to Bushnell
By JEFF BUYDOS
Eagle Staff Reporter
July 3–6, 2002
Some came for hard-core Christian music. Others came for the more mellow national act Sixpence None the Richer. And others just wanted to get away from daily life for a week.
All of them came to get closer to God.
An estimated 25,000 Christians from all over the world trekked to the small town of Bushnell for the 19th annual Cornerstone Festival July 3-6.
Close to 260 acts, ranging from earsplitting metal to mind-engaging spoken word, packed 16 different venues on the Cornerstone Farm, which borders Lake Wildwood.
The festival offered a skatepark, swimming and canoeing, and basketball as well.
“There’s so much,” said Janie Wargo, assistant coordinator. “I think we have over 250 hours of seminars this year, and I think we have 56 speakers. That’s probably doubled in the past three years. We have 300 band slots. We have games. We have all different kinds of music. We have Tooth and Nail Day, which we’ve had for the last two years.”
The Christian music label Tooth and Nail was exactly what Evan Houston came for. The lanky 17-year-old with long jet-black hair made the trip from Kansas City to catch some of the label’s acts, like 238 and Underoath. Four friends joined him in the endeavor.
They even arrived two days early to secure a prime camping spot.
“We were pretty excited,” said Houston. “We came here last year, and I just remembered how much fun it was.”
He said he spent the majority of his time swimming and skateboarding but has also made it to a few seminars, including one by Underoath on the meaning of brotherhood.
Houston said the entire atmosphere of the fest had been positive since day one.
“It’s been awesome. I remember last year I could just go up and talk to anybody and everybody would be really nice … when I got home I really missed that,” he said.
Wargo said Cornerstone has always been a progressive Christian rock fest, adding that it really gives Christians a chance to see bands that they normally couldn’t see.
And it also gives bands a chance to be seen.
Sixpence None the Richer has played the fest for several years and recently blossomed into the national spotlight with their hit, “Kiss Me.” Atlantic recording artists P.O.D. (Payable On Death) got their start at the Cornerstone New Band Showcase before signing to a major record label. Their latest CD release, “Satellite,” has been catching airplay on modern rock stations throughout the United States.
“We feel like we’ve really had a lot of bands sort of grow up here,” said Wargo.
She agreed that the main purpose of the fest is to bring people closer to God.
“It’s been the best experience that they have every year. It really brings them closer to the Lord and closer to each other,” she said.
Seminars touched on issues such as sexual troubles, self-esteem and conflict in the Middle East, just to name a few.
“There’s so much that it’s hard to think of everything,” she said.
Wargo, who saw her 10th Cornerstone this year, started working for the festival three years ago. Since then, she said, attendance has continually grown, thanks to festival director John Herrin.
“He’s made it huge. He increased the number of stages, made the grounds a lot better,” said Wargo.
“It just seems like this is the smoothest year yet as far as I can tell. It just seems like everything in general has been moving a lot more smoothly,” said Wargo.
Houston agrees. He said he’ll be back again next year.
Editor’s note: This article is part of a historical archive and was originally published in 2002.