Organizers of an annual Christian music festival held in northwest Iowa are hoping to break an attendance record that was set long ago by the Ku Klux Klan.
Rob Roozeboom, founder and president of Rise Ministries, says they discovered a KKK rally nearly a century ago in Sheldon drew an estimated 25,000 people.
“But in 1924, actually, June 16, 17, 18 of 1924, the KKK held the largest gathering in Sheldon, Iowa,” Roozeboom says. “When we first heard about it, it was a little annoying, and then it became more than annoying. I think we should break that. That’s wrong.”
The goal is to attract at least 25,001 people to this summer’s RiseFest Christian music festival. Roozeboom says he wants to erase what he calls a hated-filled record from Sheldon’s past.
“We have put together our efforts, praying, ‘God, could we break this record within the 100 years?'” Roozeboom says. “So we will happen, June 7th and 8th, 2024, almost 100 years later, and we are asking God to etch our mark in history to take a dark day and turn it to light.”
This year’s RiseFest music line-up includes Ben Fuller, Skillet, We Are Messengers, and Phil Wickham. The two-day festival also includes speakers, seminars, and activities for kids.
(By Dave Grosenheider, KLEM, Le Mars)