Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, also referred to as simply Winter Jam (and formerly known as January Jam from 1995–2000), is an annual American music tour featuring Christian rock, Christian rap, and contemporary Christian music bands, stunt and/or comedy performances, and a speaker. It is the United States' largest annual Christian Music Tour. It has also provided a platform for non-profit groups such as Holt International, an organization that provides sponsorship and adoption for orphans. Winter Jam has featured a diverse range of big name bands such as tobyMac, Newsboys, Third Day, MercyMe, Skillet, and Audio Adrenaline, and has helped expose and popularize artists such as Hawk Nelson, Krystal Meyers, and Stephanie Smith.
Conceived and created in 1995 as "January Jam" by CCM group Newsong and produced and promoted by the promotions company, Premier Productions, Winter Jam has run annually since 1995. From its inception in 1995 through the most recent 2013 tour, the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular has toured all over the United States of America. Tickets are not required for the tour, as a US$10 general admission is collected at the door of each arena.
As of April 2011, they reported more than 1/2 million in total attendance, and 90,000 "decisions for Christ" for the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular 2011, first quarter. The tour outpaced attendance for all other tours in the first quarter of 2011, including Bon Jovi, U2, X Factor Live, Lady Gaga, Brad Paisley and Justin Bieber, according to Pollstar's 2011 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales "Top 100 Tour" chart. In 2009, the tour started using text messaging and e-mail as a way to communicate and keep track of the number of people who have made these decisions. The record attendance for a single show was 21,000, which was set at the Greensboro, NC show on February 5, 2011.
Read more about Winter Jam Tour Spectacular: West Coast Tour
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“My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one,
and come away.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;”
—Bible: Hebrew The Song of Solomon (l. II, 10–12)
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—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
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