“It’s just love and community”: Light Up Prince Albert festival returns for second year

Organizers were pleased with the results of the second annual Light Up Prince Albert Festival that was held on July 10 and 11 at the Prince Albert Exhibition Grounds. Committee chair Cindy Koob said their goal was to have a Christian festival that was safe, family-friendly, and free to the public, while also inspiring attendees [...] The post “It’s just love and community”: Light Up Prince Albert festival returns for second year first appeared on Prince Albert Daily Herald .

Organizers were pleased with the results of the second annual Light Up Prince Albert Festival that was held on July 10 and 11 at the Prince Albert Exhibition Grounds. Committee chair Cindy Koob said their goal was to have a Christian festival that was safe, family-friendly, and free to the public, while also inspiring attendees to overcome any hardships they face. Koob said the results were great.

“This is a safe place where they can be fed, where they can be nurtured, where they can be encouraged. We want people to come. And the love of God is free.

So we have made this entire festival free. It’s a free gift to people. And we hope that healing comes out of it.”

Koob said that they are having thoughts about 2027 but wanted to get through 2026 in the interview on Saturday. “It’s still a learning process. One of the most encouraging things is all the love and support that is coming together from the Christian community,” Koob said.

Koob explained that the Christian community in Prince Albert has gotten behind the festival. “We have a minimum of 15 churches that are actively backing this and it’s growing. And so we’re really excited when you see people that are committed to loving God and loving people coming together in unity,” Koob said.

During her speech introducing speaker Cindy Ghostkeeper from James Smith she said that there was no thought of forcing people to pray. “And you know, love is a free gift. It’s not something to be rammed down anyone’s throat.

This is all free will. You come if you want to here, you eat. We just want to feed everyone and love them,” she explained.

The weather cooperated early in the day on Friday and Saturday and Gareau noted that she was speaking when the rainstorm occurred on Friday evening. “We finally have weather on our side. And we’re hoping because it’s a Saturday, because the weather is good, let me tell you, the food is good,” Koob said.

Koob explained that local farmer Baxter Forsyth donated an entire cow to feed people on Friday and Saturday. “So that farmer made a major contribution. The sloppy joes and the chili meals are provided by one farmer and we just want to thank him for that.”

Chelsey Gareau, founder of Stick and Stone Counselling in Saskatoon, spoke on Friday and Saturday and was available for support. “I am a trained trauma counsellor. I’m representing a mental health clinic.

I’m just here to wander and talk with people and teach,” Gareau said. Koob said that Gareau was more than just a counsellor on site but was there to speak about ‘Finding Hope’ on Saturday. “So, a big thing that I’ve noticed with individuals is especially when they’re finding Jesus or coming into their own spiritual journey, they get so frustrated and so confused because there’s this idea that life is just going to change and it’s going to get easy,” Gareau said.

She explained that she was at the event to encourage people and help them understand that they are loved and cared for. “We need to seek. We need to learn.

And so today I’m going to be teaching on knowledge is power. We cannot change what we don’t understand,” Gareau said. “I find that as I can teach people and help them understand how the brain actually works, how their nervous system actually works, it gives so much hope because it goes,

oh, I’m not broken. I’m actually normal,” she explained. Gareau said that she uses her professional skill set in the service of Jesus.

She explained that people sometimes do not understand what counsellors do. “We study the brain and we know how the brain and the body and the nervous system, how they’re connected. I love teaching people about the way things are orchestrated, that God created.

We need to understand them well. Things don’t just change,” Gareau said. She said that they want people to learn so they can overcome and heal and not just cope.

“I’m tired of people coping. That’s exhausting,” Gareau said. Gareau was put in touch with Koob to become one of the presenters at this year’s Light Up Prince Albert.

Koob said that when they were planning the festival they got the sense that trauma should be a focus. “We got the sense that God wanted to put his finger on trauma as one of the things that we felt everyone is carrying. Everyone is carrying to some degree or another,” Koob said.

For example on Friday evening they had a speech from Anna B about escaping human trafficking. “And the beautiful thing about having Chelsey here is that she brings the professional skill set along with the gospel message of hope, but also to let people know that they can get healing. They can overcome.

They’re not permanently broken. And healing is a process,” Koob said. Koob explained that an overarching theme for 2026 was healing and hope for the future.

“Healing is a huge part of that healing from trauma is a huge part of that because if you look all across society, I don’t know I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that isn’t carrying some form of trauma,” Koob said. Gareau said that there is misconception around grief that people have to be quiet about it and pretend that they have everything together. She explained that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross the person who founded the grief cycle said that ‘The most beautiful people we have known are those who’ve known loss, known suffering, known hardship, known grief, but have found their way out of those depths.’

“I’m here to tell people they can find their way out. And sometimes we just need to know where to look. We need to know who we can surround ourselves with to help encourage and equip us, because it’s a lonely journey when you don’t have the right people in your court,” Gareau said.

Gareau said that the people at the festival were working together to love people fiercely and encourage people that there is a future. The theme came across from the speakers throughout the weekend according to Koob. “And the stories that are coming out on the stage are stories of people who are not just survivors.

They’re thriving members of their families and their communities. And at the end of the day, we want lives transformed. We want families restored, and we want thriving communities that are healthy and vibrant.

So this is our goal, and we want everyone to feel connected,” Koob said. Saturday opened with the Walk for Jesus from the Redeemed Christian Church of the God-Victory Temple on 12th Street eventually making its way down 10th Street back to the Exhibition Grounds. Koob said that the festival was a welcoming place for everyone.

“And that is probably the most beautiful thing about this festival is that we have people from every walk of life. Everyone is welcome, everyone is equal, everyone is loved. There is none of that former misrepresentation of Jesus and what the gospel used to look like.

It’s not that at all. It’s just love and community,”