As the first notes began for the first song during “Festival: A Youth Concert,” singer Halee “Halo” Crowther had the crowd cheering.
“We’re going to have some fun tonight,” she announced as she moved from one side of the stage to the other, encouraging everyone to join in.
“I want you clapping, I want you singing — all the things,” she said before launching into singing “Good Day.”
Cheers followed, and almost 1,000 voices united for the lyrics: “I got it all planned out, but He’s got a plan for me.”
The worldwide broadcast, filmed June 5-6 at Red Butte Garden Amphitheater in Salt Lake City in front of a live audience, is now available to watch via the Church’s broadcast page in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. It is also available on YouTube and the Gospel Stream app.
Wards and stakes are encouraged to plan a date to view the concert together.
After the first song, Crowther shared that the concert was meant to be a celebration: “We are gathered to celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ through music. … We hope that you feel the power that comes in worshipping our Savior, Jesus Christ, through music.”
Beginning with “Good Day,” the concert included “Truth,” sung by Connor Austin and Jarica Jamison; “He’ll Be There,” sung by Austin; “Over Mine,” sung by Ben Olsen; “Follow,” featuring Ashley Hess; “FSY Medley,” sung by the entire group; “What Is This Joy,” featuring Garon Brett; “Disciple of Christ,” sung by Ysabelle Cuevas; and “If You Believe,” sung by Patch Crowe.
In the Portuguese, Spanish and French broadcasts, songs in those languages are sung by Brazil’s João Daniel, Mexico’s Naxi Martinez and France’s Herehau Vero.
Sister Ellie Barry, currently serving a service mission, and Oba Bonner also sang with the group. During each song, the audience sang along loudly.
Between songs, the singers shared scriptural examples, personal stories and their feelings about the words of the music and how they lead to Jesus Christ.
For example, before the song “What Is this Joy,” Austin recounted from Mark 2:4 of the four who lowered their friend through the roof into a gathering to see Jesus.
“Jesus saw the faith of those four friends. He saw four friends willing to do anything to bring a friend to Christ. That’s discipleship,” Austin said. “... As disciples, we do whatever it takes to bring people to Him.”
He asked the audience to imagine what the people of Capernaum thought — watching the man being carried on a bed to the home, and then the man carrying his own bed as he walked away — “Do you think they asked the question, ‘What is this joy?’ ... When we bring people to Him, we get to experience that unspeakable joy.”
Besides the youth in the live audience — who were attending a nearby For the Strength of Youth conference at the University of Utah — Hess wanted to make sure all youth watching worldwide knew they are a part of the celebration as well.
“You in Brazil, you in Africa, you in Spain, you in the Pacific Islands, you in the church gyms, the backyards or even somebody else’s home, thank you so much for coming,” she said.
After the closing number, Crowe thanked the crowd for coming, singing and dancing along: “I hope you feel how much we love you; I hope you feel how much the Savior loves you.”
Besides participating with their wards or stakes, youth are encouraged to rewatch the broadcast and download the music to be able to listen to the songs regularly. The playlist is available in the music library at ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on 10 other platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube.
Editor’s note: This has been updated to include the concert is available on the Gospel Stream app.
