After Jesus Festival: What Comes Next

On September 4 and 5, 2026, Gage Park in Hamilton filled with worship, the Gospel, baptisms, a Kids Zone, food, and a city gathered around one name. The stage is down now. Here is what a festival weekend was always for — and what to do this week so the seeds planted don't stay in the ground.

A festival is a beginning, not a finish line

Jesus never told us to gather a crowd. He told us to make disciples. A city-wide festival is a wonderful way to lift His name in public and to meet people who would never walk into a church — but if it ends when the sound system is packed up, most of those meetings quietly expire. The weekend was the invitation. This week is the follow-through.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

This week: four things that actually matter

Follow up with the people you met

Every name you learned at Gage Park is a person God put in front of you on purpose. Message them this week — not with a pitch, but with genuine care: how are they, can you pray for anything, would they like to grab a coffee. Write the names down so nobody is forgotten; Kingdom Base is a free tool built for exactly this.

Walk someone through their first steps

If anyone responded to Jesus or was baptised, the most loving thing you can do is not leave them alone with it. Our free seven-day First Steps With Jesus guide is written for a new believer and the friend beside them — grace, prayer, Scripture, church, baptism, sharing their story.

Join a weekly outreach

The festival happens once a year. Love on The World groups are on the streets of their cities every week — praying for people, meeting practical needs, sharing the Gospel. That weekly rhythm is where festival momentum becomes discipleship. Find your city and just show up.

Keep praying — for Hamilton and the nations

Pray for the people who heard the Gospel that weekend, for the churches receiving new believers, and for the cities and nations still waiting. Pick one nation from our prayer list and carry it this month.

Could your city host one?

Raising up public celebrations of Jesus is a huge part of our heart — not as a Hamilton event, but as something any city can do. The Jesus Festival Movement exists to help believers in other cities plan, fund, and run their own free festival with the Gospel at the centre. If you left Gage Park thinking "my city needs this," that thought may be an assignment.

Bring a Jesus Festival to your city

The Jesus Festival Movement helps local believers host a free, public celebration of Jesus — worship, the Gospel, baptisms, and a city invited in. Explore the movement

What we will not tell you

You will not read attendance numbers or salvation counts here. We don't have verified figures, and inflating a story to make God look bigger is a strange way to honour a God who does not need our help. What we can say is true: a city was invited, the Gospel was preached in the open, people were baptised, and the same Jesus who was worshipped at Gage Park is at work in your neighbourhood this week. That is enough to act on.

Update, October 2026: the first reports are in

Since this was written, the Jesus Festival team has shared early reports from the weekend — 70+ salvations and 50+ baptisms — clearly labelled as early reports, not a final audited count. Read what God did, and how to partner in what comes next. Read the impact report

Find your city group

Weekly outreach across Ontario and New Brunswick. Learn more about Find your city group

First Steps With Jesus

A free seven-day guide for new believers. Learn more about First Steps With Jesus

The evangelism field guide

Five practical steps to share Jesus with anyone. Learn more about The evangelism field guide

Pray for a nation

Prayer points for nations across every continent. Learn more about Pray for a nation

Next steps

Join a weekly outreach · Festival stories at JesusFestival.ca