By Brynna Breen
More than 6,000 hands raised in awe-filled worship. A sweet sense of holy revival, celebration, and peace permeates the air as the sun sets, a perfect summery yellow-orange, over a wide, open field at the Mineola Nature Preserve.
Christian music floats through the air as, together, followers of Jesus from as far away as Canada and Brazil and as close as Mineola, close their eyes and sing the familiar words together.
This was Rock the Pines, an inaugural Christian music festival that was held in Wood County, Texas in 2026. And it was amazing.
Rock the Pines: What It Was
Rock the Pines was a festival for the entire family. More than just a concert, the event strove to have something everyone would enjoy. This meant a one-and-a-half-day event, featuring everything from a marketplace to mouthwatering food trucks to a “kids zone,” kickoff concert, and so, so much more.
Rock the Pines, of course, also featured extraordinarily well-known musical artists, some of whom had fans come in the thousands to see them. For a perfect day (and the evening before), Rock the Pines brought in the following:
- Switchfoot
- Tauren Wells
- Colton Dixon
- Terrian
- Gio
- Bodie
- Trip Lee
- Jet Trouble
- Keenan Clark
- Stephen Stanley
- Evan Craft
Among their many, many other entertainments at the festival, Rock the Pines also featured an inflatable waterslide—apparently the highlight of the event for many kids, who, when asked about their opinion of the festival, mentioned it every time.
“I loved going swimming,” said three-year-old Kamdyn Green bashfully. “The slide (was my favorite part),” agreed young child Rosie Evans. “I didn’t hear most of the music, ‘cause I wasn’t over there.”
Ah, well. At least the kids made memories and had a blast.
Reviews of Rock the Pines
Adults had a blast, too, but most of them for a different reason. Despite the intense summer heat, which happily faded by the evening, thousands of folks turned out in droves to come see these famous headliner bands. And all attendees who were asked said they planned to return in 2027.
“It was incredible,” said Rock the Pines organizer Johnathan Henry, who also owns Honor Coffee Co. in Quitman, Texas and Winnsboro, Texas. “(I’m) just super grateful that it went well—super blessed, super honored, and grateful.”
Interestingly enough, while it can be hard to gather a crowd for much of anything these days, Henry said that Rock the Pines ended up selling more than 6,000 tickets in three or more countries spanning two continents. This was more than 480 cities, at nearly 100 tickets sold per day!
“Most Christian music festivals sit in between that six to ten thousand (attendee) range,” said Henry. “So, that in itself, I’d say, is a success! For us to already be more than 6,000, year one, is wild.”
Families also traveled from far away and even splurged to camp near the Rock the Pines site. All this was despite the fact that the festival was in its first year. No one, it seems, minded.
In fact, if audience participation counts for anything (which, you know, it does), then Rock the Pines was a roaring success. They said it time and time again.
“I think it’s great!”
“It’s really fun!”
“Oh, I think it’s awesome!”
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun—it’s so much fun!!”
Tiffanie Gilbert, who, with her family, bought an additional ticket to camp for the whole weekend, summed up the general opinion well: “We think that it’s incredible to see people gathering to hear music about Jesus, and just see what God’s doing in young people’s lives!”
The intense enthusiasm that accompanied the idea for Rock the Pines was evident in an impromptu moment shouted between the crowd and Bill Bumpas, vice president of programming for local radio giant 89.5 KVNE.
“Who came the farthest? Florida? California? Nevada? …. BRAZIL???” he shouted enthusiastically, responding in incredulity to shouted answers from the crowd.
Just like the people they played for, the artists at Rock the Pines had a blast at the concert, too. In fact, Henry says that Rock the Pines is “the first festival (he’s) ever seen” where artists were just as excited about being there as the audience was.
“I’ve been in the music industry for a little bit, and I’ve done plenty of shows, and I’ve been to plenty of festivals,” said Henry. “(But Rock the Pines) is the first festival I have ever seen other artists on the bill, up front, watching the headliner—Tauren Wells, Colton (Dixon), and, like, all of them were up front, rocking out. I’ve never seen that before!”
Illustrating the truth of this, artist Stephen Stanley mentioned while onstage that he was not originally supposed to be playing at the event, but that he heard about it and wanted to come. During a meet-and-greet moment with his fans on Friday night, Stanley mentioned that getting to meet, and open for, Switchfoot was a “dream come true.”
“Switchfoot literally is the first music I remember hearing, just as a person,” Stanley said. “I met them very, very briefly, like, years ago, (so) getting to open for them and get to meet them and stuff tomorrow, is kind of a dream come true!”
Several other award-winning artists mentioned the same thing. In fact, Colton Dixon, an RIAA gold-winning artist himself, mentioned teasingly while onstage that he had his Switchfoot-themed socks on.
“Guys, seriously, I grew up listening to Switchfoot,” he said. “We’re stoked to hear them tonight, stoked to be here tonight!”
Rock the Pines in 2027
Everyone was stoked. That’s why organizers were already planning Rock the Pines 2027 before Rock the Pines 2026 was even finished (we congratulate them on their discipline to do both at once!).
Are you irritated at not having heard about Rock the Pines before now, and feeling like everything you just read sounded great but you’ve missed it? Well, it was great, and so I have good news for you—tickets for Rock the Pines 2027 are already available. Go ahead and buy one. It’s so, so worth it.
Skillet has already been announced as a headliner for Rock the Pines 2027, a development that Henry says he is “really pumped” about. Rock the Pines 2027 will take place on April 24 next year, and it will again be presented by KVNE. Children aged eight and under will be free.
Rock the Pines felt different than any other concert because everyone was together. There wasn’t any division; no “pay extra to listen to the big bands” fee; no “kids not allowed” signs. Just an audience having an amazing time along with the bands who were playing; all folks worshiping Jesus “in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23d, WEB)
Don’t miss all of this in 2027. Trust me.