Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Streams U.S. Franklin Graham Festival Live on the Web

BillyGraham.org Gives Global Audience Opportunity to Participate in Knoxville, Tenn. Event

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 23, 2008—the East Tennessee Franklin Graham Festival taking place this weekend, April 25-27, will be the first Franklin Graham event held in the United States to be broadcast live on the Internet. Viewers across the country and around the world will be able to log on to BillyGraham.org and watch the entire Festival service as it is happening in Knoxville.

"This is an important way to use today's technology to broaden the outreach that we have in Knoxville," said Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  "We typically reach thousands each night in an arena, but now it is possible to reach millions at the same time."

The Festival begins Friday night, April 25, at 7 p.m. ET and will feature Israel Houghton & New Breed and Austin's Bridge.  Saturday night's program-a special youth night for students and teens-begins at 6:47 p.m. ET with music by TobyMac and Group 1 Crew. The Festival will conclude on Sunday, starting at 4 p.m., with performances by Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, and American Idol finalist Phil Stacey.

Along with the live streaming video of the event itself, daily news and video updates will be added to billygraham.org during the weekend.  While Knoxville is the first U.S. Franklin Graham event to be streamed live on BillyGraham.org, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association plans to continue using the Internet to offer live broadcasts of future Festivals.

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