Ichthus: Weather strikes again

Above: Volunteers Dave Hooks and daughter Amy Hooks of Nicholasville carried couch cushions from the Ichthus Festival's youth leader's tent after it was knocked down during an overnight storm. Below: A utility pole at the Ichthus Festival site was snapped in three pieces by Monday night's storms. Copyrighted Lexington Herald-Leader photos by Charles Bertram.

Last night's severe thunderstorms ravaged the Ichthus Festival site, which was essentially ready to go for the start of the festival Thursday.

Festival director Jeff James said he was "mesmerized," looking at the grounds at Ichthus Farm, which he described as, "a disaster area," with tents blown down and torn and tables and chairs tossed about the site.

James was optimistic Tuesday morning that the festival will still start on time Thursday, but it would take things like electrical crews working through the night to make it happen.

Ichthus has had a history of bad luck with weather, including the 2005 event that saw a severe thunderstorm on Friday night and snow the next day. That prompted the festival to move from late April to June, to avoid Kentucky's unpredictable early spring weather. Since that move in 2006, the festival has not had any weather-related troubles, until this morning.

UPDATE: Festival operations director Doug Baker says that camping will open at 10 a.m. Wednesday, as scheduled, and the Gotee Records showcase as 7 p.m. is still on.

Read Shawntaye Hopkins' accounts of storm damage at Ichthus and around Central Kentucky.

Watch this site and LexGo.com for more information about the storms' impact on Ichthus.

Comments

[Chris, Richmond]

My first Ichthus festival was in 1990 when I was 12. Unfortunately, I think that the festival has lost a lot of its character in the last several years. I never liked the move to the new grounds. The old grounds (while smaller) were just, for lack of a better description, cozier. I remember that year, our youth group actually camped out in someone's backyard and then walked to the festival, which was just a stone's throw away. Now the cozy feeling is gone and you just feel like you're in the middle of a cow pasture. To make matters worse, the move to June was shortsighted IMO. Part of the magic of Ichthus was that it was the first Christian music festival every year. It was something to look forward to while you were in school, like a post Spring Break party. It was the last major thing to happen before school let out each year (i.e., a sign that summer break was on its way!). Sure, the weather could be unpredictable, but it had always been that way since the first one in 1970. That was part of the fun. Now it's just one of many summer festivals that take place in sweltering heat, and camping in 90 degree weather just isn't very appealing.