I went for THIS event in 2012..

Like I said earlier, at the end of 2012, the 28th of December to be precise, I went for this A-MAZING concert in Manchester!

It was the second of its kind, the first being in 2011.. Basically it's like the popular event in Lagos, Nigeria called The Experience.

Festival of Praise in Manchester has now become an annual event and arguably one of the most sought after gospel concerts in the North of England!

It's free of charge (you have to pre-book tickets though) and takes place at the popular O2 Apollo in Manchester (I think it seats about 2500 people!).. Now of course, the fact that it is free of charge means that tickets go FAST! About 3 weeks to the event, I was told that the event tickets were totally gone - and I didn't have a ticket #Gbese.. Thank God by a miracle, I was able to get one of the PRECIOUS tickets (Honestly, someone was saying that some people may even be selling on ebay to the highest bidder - thank God that didn't happen! lol)

Anyways, as the day approached I was mega excited! You see, I love worship, I love dancing, I love concerts! So I was like wow, I can't wait to get my praise on and I was eagerly expectant of the move of God through worship...

... Boy was my expectation exceeded!

The first time I went for FOP in 2011, there were some areas I felt could have been improved on.. I thought there were too many guests for the time available so just as you were getting into the praise, they had to leave.. #megafrustrating..

This time around, I was totally impressed and excited to note that the organisers took this into consideration and improved drastically from the previous inaugural concert and made this an unforgettable experience..

The event started with a wonderful time of worship with the host church's mass choir - just wonderful! As you walked into the venue, you could feel the presence in the air.. The atmosphere was beyond what you could sufficiently put into words.. Also, the stewards were just lovely! So friendly and welcoming.. They seemed like they thoroughly enjoyed serving and were proud to be part of the team.. I believe that gave an excellent reception to guests...

The first guest of the night was the very talented saxophonist Mike Aremu who raised the roof and led us in awesome praise and worship..

We had leaders of various churches lead in prayers for the city - It was all so uplifting..

We then had several great Worship leaders of our time take to the stage to lead us in worship of the King..

We danced, we lifted holy hands, we jumped, we clapped, we smiled, we laughed, we went on our knees, we cried, we shed tears in awe of our Great King.. It was all so simply AWESOME!

Lara Martin (a vibant worshipper!), Ron Kenoly (who shared an inspiring testimony of God's healng power, faithfulness and greatness), Muyiwa & Riversongz (who co-hosted with Madeline Kerzner - fabulous!), Chevelle Franklyn (Oh my, oh my.. THIS woman is amazing!), Cece Winans (Beautiful inside and outside, such a fantastic woman of God), Mark Beswick (wonderful), Mark Stevens (with a wonderful testimony of God's grace)..

It was all so..... WONDER-ful!

The presence of God was mighty and just to say a BIG BIG well done to the host church RCCG Jubilee Church in Manchester, members and their great Pastors Bimbo and Folu Komolafe as well as their Spirit and Life Choir.. I pray for more grace for even greater works as you have begun history in the country of Great Britain..

Thank you for giving people like me the opportunity to pray for the city, worship God in such a special way, with great men and women of God, under one roof, at no cost!

.....And if you didn't attend, make it a date this year.. Trust me, totally unmissable! :-)