Episode Details

Carmela welcomes John Key, founder of Summer Madness, Ireland’s largest interdenominational Christian youth festival, now in its fortieth year. John describes his own teenage encounter with God in Lurgan through a charismatic town-hall mission, his theology degree at Queen’s, five years as a youth worker, and a decade as All-Ireland youth officer for the Church of Ireland, during which a visit to the Greenbelt festival in England inspired him to try something similar at home.

The first Summer Madness in 1987 drew 280 young people; the next year 580, then 950, and it grew rapidly through word of mouth into a cross-denominational event drawing up to 1,800 campers from across the island. He describes the format — five days in a circus tent at Bethlehem Abbey in Portglenone, with lively worship, speakers from Ireland, the UK, the US and beyond, late-night prayer ministry, sports, debates and arts — and reflects on the deep encounters with God that residential time creates for young people. He notes a growing Catholic participation, including through the Koinonia community, and offers a discount code (NS26) for listeners wishing to attend the 2026 festival, 26–30 June.

L'articolo Northern Soul – Summer Madness: Forty Years of Youth Faith Gatherings – John Key and Carmela proviene da Radio Maria.