By Brynna Breen
On Saturday, September 5, more than 6,000 Christians will gather at the Mineola Nature Preserve—a beautiful, nearly 3,000-acre property outside town—for a one-day festival of “worship, community, and unforgettable moments, all set beneath the towering pines of the Mineola Nature Preserve.”
And oh, boy, there will be music!
Rock the Pines: The Itinerary
Rock the Pines is an enormous concert and festival which is in its inaugural year. However, that doesn’t mean it’s anything unpracticed or unprepared: In fact, it’s kind of the opposite. What started as a “pipe dream” from organizer Johnathan Henry (owner of Honor Coffee Co.com, formerly the Speakeasy, in Quitman and Winnsboro) soon became what is arguably the biggest, most widely marketed event in the recent history of Wood County, Texas.
Rock the Pines will take place mostly on September 5. However, Henry also mentions that there will be a free Friday night “bonfire worship” (weather and burn laws permitting) the night before, on September 4, to kick off the massive event. Friday’s lineup alone includes Evan Craft and Stephen Stanley—both of whom are two big names in Christian music.
Saturday, of course, starts the festivities, along with the majority of the music. With a 10 a.m. start time, this festival will, well… “rock the pines” of Wood County for the entire day!
For its already-popular event, Rock the Pines will bring in some of the most well-known Christian artists in the nation, including Switchfoot, Tauren Wells, Colton Dixon, Terrian, Gio., Bodie, Trip Lee, Jet Trouble, Keenan Clark, and more.
Between them, these famous Christian artists have more than 10 million listeners tune in to them every month on Spotify. For reference, those together are about the same number that Alan Jackson or Def Leppard have listening!
In fact, Switchfoot alone (who have also played with such musical giants as Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers) garners more than 2.5 million monthly listeners; that’s as if every single person in a place twice the size of Dallas proper listened to their music every month!
Of course, as it is such a big deal, Rock the Pines is far more than just another concert. It really is a festival in the truest sense of the word: A happy, joyous celebration of Jesus will take place in Mineola amidst family-friendly activities of many kinds.
Rock the Pines will feature the following:
- Kids Zone: “Rock the Pines is a family festival, and the Kids Zone is built to prove it. Let the little ones burn some energy while you enjoy the show.”
- Tons of truly mouthwatering food vendors: “From smoked brisket to street tacos to fresh-squeezed lemonade, there is something for every appetite.”
- Marketplace: “The curated Marketplace tent brings together local artists, makers, and vendors offering unique crafts, art, clothing, and one-of-a-kind finds.”
- Popular favorite: “The fireworks show to cap off an unforgettable night.”
Rock the Pines will truly be something substantial. A humongous Christian concert, smoked brisket, handmade crafts, and a bouncy house? Sounds like something just about anyone from Wood County, Texas would like.
Tickets are still available to this amazing Christian event, including some for on-site primitive camping and for off-site RV camping just five miles away.
Rock the Pines: The Impact
Henry says that tickets are being sold at the rate of around 100 a day, with more than 5,000 sold already!
These ticket sales aren’t just from around Texas: Rock the Pines is such a huge deal that they’ve already sold to 488 cities in 15 states, some even as far away as New York, Washington, Florida, etc. In fact, Henry noted happily that they’ve even sold some tickets internationally.
So yeah, it’s a huge event—one that Wood County, Texas organizers are taking seriously.
In actuality, to speak even more to the impact of Rock the Pines, it would be more accurate to say that “East Texas organizers” are taking this event very seriously and with growing interest.
Henry says that he was overwhelmed and deeply grateful to see how Wood County boards, towns, officials, and public all pulled together to make this happen; however, its impact has easily reached over to Tyler, where radio station giant 89.5 KVNE has decided to “present” the event.
Rock the Pines: The Idea
Henry’s dream to start a Christian music festival, he says, in some ways started when he was a huge fan of music at 17 years old. Impressively, however, the actual planning for the event only started in September 2025.
“I grew up going to music festivals and concerts, and had my mom drive me to Dallas all the time for any and every show,” said Henry. “So moving back home, it was just like ‘man, it’d be so cool to do a music festival here!’ So, this last year, all the pieces kind of came together, and now we’re off to the races.’”
Henry, who has experience working in the music industry of Nashville, bought Honor Coffee Co. in 2025 and said he “jokingly talked about doing a small music event” right afterward.
“I made a video (on our Facebook page), basically asking folks, like, ‘Hey, do you think it’d be cool to do a Christian music festival here in East Texas?’ And the response was wild,” Henry said. “Overnight, we had messages coming from all kinds of folks, saying, ‘Yes! Let’s do this! How can I help?’ And I said, ‘Okay; maybe this thing has some legs.”
As it often does in God’s plan, the idea “happened” to make it into the right person’s sphere of awareness; Executive Director for the Wood County Economic Development Commission, Christine Thomas, soon came into Henry’s shop asking about the idea and suggesting he present it to the City of Mineola.
Mineola voted to be involved on the project, and the Mineola EDC “graciously granted us $40,000 to put wind under our sails. And we were off to the races after that,” said Henry.
From there, the festival has received several generous sponsorships and donations from businesses and boards across Wood County, including $10,000 from the Wood County EDC and many more.
Rock the Pines, it seems, will succeed just as much as Henry wanted it to—especially for this being in its first year. Who knows to what reaches it might extend in upcoming years?
“Our big vision is to see 15,000 or 20,000-plus (people) at these events, as we grow year after year,” said Henry.
The Rock the Pines website perhaps says it best: “We believe music is one of the most powerful ways people connect with God and with each other. Rock the Pines exists to create that space. One day, one place, thousands of people lifting their voices together.”
To put it simply: You should be one of those thousands.