At Regenerate Youth Festival, young people from the Georgia-Cumberland Conference gather to praise God, offer their talents, and socialize. The festival, an annual occurrence typically held in Cartersville, Georgia, kicked off with an overview of the happenings in the conference — including GCA’s mission trips to Ecuador and Arizona, opportunities to serve in the refugee community in Clarksville, GA, info about GCC’s 71.5 Magazine, and a video of CA’s mission trip to Cambodia.

This year, the festival invited pastor Mark Witas as guest speaker, who captured everyone’s attention with his witty storytelling and engaging message of peace. After lunch, students could choose to attend a show by the hilarious SAU improv team, or listen to short, TED style talks from various speakers. Next, was my favorite part of the festival, where praise teams, school choirs, drama teams, and individual artists poured out their talents for God. New this year at the festival was the first ever Regenerate Film Fest, where students could submit their creative works for a chance to win prizes and have their work displayed during the evening session. To conclude, the festival hosted musician Tim Timmons to put on a amazing concert — past artists have included Unspoken, Chris August, the JJ Weeks Band, and the Skit Guys. For anyone who has never attended Regenerate, I strongly encourage you to go and meet new people, listen to some powerful testimonies, sing your heart out, and just enjoy a day focused on one thing — Jesus.