The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Christian music’s largest annual tour and Pollstar’s No. 1 tour in attendance for the first quarter of this year, has announced its 2012 tour stops and artist lineup.

Founded and hosted by GRAMMY-nominated group NewSong and produced by Premier Productions, the Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular will be headlined by GRAMMY-nominated alternative rockers Skillet. The 47-city tour will also feature Sanctus Real, former Newsboys frontman Peter Furler, Kari Jobe, Building 429, Group 1 Crew, illusionist Brock Gill and national speaker Nick Hall.

In addition, the OneVerse Pre-Jam Party will include performances from Dara Maclean, For King & Country and We As Human. VeggieTales’ Bob and Larry also will make a special appearance.

Kicking off its 17th year Jan. 6 in Charleston, W.Va., the tour includes stops in Atlanta; Dallas; Memphis, Tenn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Charlotte, N.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; and San Antonio. It concludes April 1 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Admission is $10 at the door, with no ticket required. Because the tour is not ticketed, Winter Jam creator and NewSong founding member Eddie Carswell calls it the “Trust God More Tour.”

Writing about the tour in an Industry Forum column for the November issue of Christian Retailing, Carswell said: “The level of faith required from everyone on the tour is something I love. When you’re on the road with 10 tour buses, three semi-trucks, extensive sound and lighting systems, the top Christian music acts, and you have no guarantee that an audience is going to show up, you have to learn to trust God more every day.”

Founded by NewSong in 1995, the 2011 tour will visit 11 cities in the western United States this fall—the first time it has gone West. The 2011 tour outpaced attendance for all other tours in the first quarter, including Bon Jovi, U2, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, according to Pollstar’s 2011 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales “Top 100 Tours” chart.

“God has blessed it and had His hand guiding our decisions since the beginning,” Carswell continued in his column. “I believe another reason for the success is the partnerships we are able to form with so many wonderful artists every year.” 

Carswell also emphasized the partnerships with Christian retail to further the impact of the tour. See the November issue to learn how to maximize the ministry potential of the tour.

The 2012 tour is presented by Holt International, with additional sponsors including the University of Mobile, The Creation Museum, OneVerse, Wayne E. Bailey Produce, Texas TransEastern, Premier Christian Cruises, Xtreme Conferences and Camp Electric.

Click here for a complete list of Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular dates and cities.

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