August 12, 2024 – The founder of Christian music festival Light the Way says over 9,000 people attended the two-day festival in Olive Branch in July, generating a potential economic impact on the city of over $1 million.
John Wilson of the ministry, based in Ozark, Missouri, approached the Olive Branch City Council with a request to bring the festival back to Olive Branch City Park for a third year.
Wilson said the possible date for a third Light the Way Festival is July 4 and 5, 2025.
Wilson said the total number of people who registered with tickets for the free festival was 9,102, including 4,551 from Mississippi, 2,730 from Olive Branch and 1,851 from other states.
Attendance at the festival, which featured Christian musicians Big Daddy Weave and We The Kingdom, helped raise approximately $1.34 million for the church over its two-day run.
“Their potential is above the average for a mid-sized festival, which in our industry has between 7,500 and 15,000 attendees,” Wilson said. “Their local economic impact could potentially be in the range of $1.3 million to $1.5 million.”
Wilson pointed out that the festival brings increased expenses for visitors, such as accommodation, food and shopping. Subcontractors are hired to help with hooking up electricity and the like, and the image and standard of living are improved. He said that now more people in the industry are discovering what Olive Branch is and what it is all about.
“Two years ago, I didn’t know Olive Branch, Mississippi, existed, and two years ago, Nashville, Tennessee, where we do a lot of our work, didn’t know Olive Branch,” Wilson said. “Now we’re in a situation where our team in Nashville is booking artists and they want to come to Olive Branch. They love the city, they love the hospitality, and it makes my job easier to bring in these bigger artists who are going to bring more people to this festival.”
Wilson concluded by asking the city to consider resuming the Light the Way Festival next July and then making it once again a free festival with sponsorship and support from the community.
Also, at the recent Olive Branch City Council meeting, Olive Branch businesswoman Abbi Nichols was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Mississippi by the Small Business Administration. Jeddidiah Dupray, a fourth-year at Olive Branch and part of the Raising Men Lawn Care Service, was also honored. Dupray mows lawns for veterans, seniors, single parents and the disabled for free and has set a goal to mow 1,000 lawns before he graduates high school.
The monthly Mayor’s Award went to Lt. Rion Blevins, Lt./Medic Patrick Rowland, Firefighter Gage Johnson, Firefighter/Paramedic Justin Cook, EMT Paul Coletta and EMT Jackson Curtis.
The meetings will be streamed live on the city’s YouTube channel:
