Record-breaking attendance for Winter Jam

Written by Eric Tiansay

Monday, 24 May 2010 03:27 PM America/New_York

Christian music's largest annual tour, the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, recently concluded its 15th year with record-breaking attendance. Produced by Premier Productions and presented by Holt International, the 44-city Winter Jam 2010 Tour Spectacular played to more than 403,000 people--including more than 17,000 at a single stop in Oklahoma City, Okla., according to organizers.

The tour broke its attendance record for the third year in a row, despite the current economic climate and a policy of not selling advance tickets--guests are required to pay $10 at the door.

Hosted by NewSong, this year's tour featured Third Day, Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North, Fireflight and speaker Tony Nolan. Sidewalk Prophets, Robert Pierre and Revive also performed on select Winter Jam dates.

The tour saw an estimated 74,000 people receive Christ since its Jan. 8 kick-off in Chattanooga, Tenn, organizers said. Additionally, it facilitated more than 10,000 sponsorship commitments to adoption and the child welfare organization Holt International.

"We stand amazed at yet another year of record attendance, commitments to Christ and child sponsorships that have come as a result of Winter Jam," said NewSong's Eddie Carswell. "It has nothing to do with us. We're simply instruments for His glory, and we can't wait to see what He will do next year."

Winter Jam was ranked No. 2 on Pollstar's 2010 Worldwide "Top 100 Tours" chart for the first quarter of 2010, according to organizers. Second to AC/DC, Winter Jam finished ahead of tours by such artists as John Mayer, Bon Jovi, Coldplay and Taylor Swift.

Click here for more information on the Winter Jam 2010 Tour Spectacular.