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 rock

Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...

, Christian rap, and contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

 bands, stunt

Stunt

A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...

 and/or comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 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

TobyMac

Toby McKeehan , better known by his stage name TobyMac , is a Christian recording artist, music producer, hip-hop/pop artist, singer-songwriter, and author....

, Newsboys

Newsboys

Newsboys are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia. They have released 15 studio albums, six of which have been certified gold...

, Third Day

Third Day

Third Day is a Grammy award-winning Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee and former member Billy Wilkins. The other band members are bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr...

, MercyMe

MercyMe

MercyMe is an American Christian rock band founded in Greenville, Texas. The band consists of vocalist Bart Millard, keyboardist James Bryson, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul....

, Skillet

Skillet (band)

Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John and Korey Cooper , along with Jen Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison. The band has released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: Collide and Comatose...

, and Audio Adrenaline

Audio Adrenaline

Audio Adrenaline was a Christian rock band that formed in the late 1980s at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. During the band's 17-year existence, they were awarded two Grammy awards, multiple Dove Awards and they released 17 number one singles. They were regular performers at the...

, and has helped expose and popularize artists such as Hawk Nelson

Hawk Nelson

Hawk Nelson is a Christian rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. The band has become very popular in the Christian music scene and was voted "Favorite New Artist" by CCM Magazine in their February 2006 Reader's Choice Awards. In 2006 Hawk Nelson won a No...

, Krystal Meyers

Krystal Meyers

Krystal Meyers is an American Christian rock / Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter and musician...

, and Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith is an American Contemporary Christian music singer/songwriter. She is signed to Gotee Records. Her first studio album, Not Afraid, was released on May 27, 2008 digitally and in stores on December 23, 2008. She received national attention on the Winter Wonder Slam tour with...

.

Conceived and created in 1995 as "January Jam" by CCM

Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

 group Newsong

NewSong

NewSong is a Contemporary Christian Music group that was founded in 1981, at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia. They have had eight GMA Dove Award nominations. They are the founders of the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, the United States' largest annual Christian music tour. It began in...

, Winter Jam has run annually since 1995. From its inception in 1995 through the most recent 2009 tour

Winter Jam 2009

Winter Jam 2009 Tour Spectacular was a concert tour in the Winter Jam concert series, headlined by Grammy Award winning artist tobyMac and hosted by NewSong. Other artists on the tour included Brandon Heath, Hawk Nelson, Francesca Battistelli, pureNRG, and Stephanie Smith. Playing select dates...

, 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 2009, they report a total attendance of about 335,300 people, and 69,700 "decisions for Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

". 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.

Winter Jam 2010

In October 2009 Winter Jam announced the 2010 Concert Lineup. The artists are Third Day

Third Day

Third Day is a Grammy award-winning Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee and former member Billy Wilkins. The other band members are bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr...

, Newsboys

Newsboys

Newsboys are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia. They have released 15 studio albums, six of which have been certified gold...

, Fireflight

Fireflight

Fireflight is an American Christian rock band formed in Eustis, Florida in 1999. The band is signed by Flicker Records. They have played in Shoutfest, Revelation Generation, and have been featured on The Scars Remain tour with Disciple, Family Force 5, and Decyfer Down...

, Tenth Avenue North

Tenth Avenue North

Tenth Avenue North is an American contemporary Christian music band from West Palm Beach, Florida. They took their name from a major east-west road in Palm Beach County.The group was formed while attending Palm Beach Atlantic University...

, Newsong

NewSong

NewSong is a Contemporary Christian Music group that was founded in 1981, at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia. They have had eight GMA Dove Award nominations. They are the founders of the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, the United States' largest annual Christian music tour. It began in...

, Sidewalk Prophets, Robert Pierre, Revive, & Speaker Tony Nolan. The tour experienced great success, having the second highest attendance of a tour in the first quarter of 2010 (next to AC/DC

AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

).

Winter Jam 2011

Winter Jam 2011 features Chris Sligh, Chris August, Sidewalk Prophets, Speaker Tony Nolan, KJ-52, NewSong, Francesca Battistelli, RED, Kutless, David Crowder Band, and Newsboys as the headliner.

West Coast Tour

On June 21, 2011, Winter Jam announced on Facebook and Twitter that the tour would head to the west coast for the first time ever. The tour kicks off
November 3 and ends on November 20. This year's artists are Newsboys

Newsboys

Newsboys are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia. They have released 15 studio albums, six of which have been certified gold...

, KJ-52

KJ-52

KJ-52 is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J...

, Red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

, Kutless

Kutless

Kutless is a Christian rock band from Portland, Oregon formed in 1999. Since their formation, they have released six studio albums including their latest, It Is Well. The band has also released a live album, Live from Portland. Currently, they have sold almost 2 million records.-Biography:Formed in...

, Newsong

NewSong

NewSong is a Contemporary Christian Music group that was founded in 1981, at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia. They have had eight GMA Dove Award nominations. They are the founders of the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, the United States' largest annual Christian music tour. It began in...

, Fireflight

Fireflight

Fireflight is an American Christian rock band formed in Eustis, Florida in 1999. The band is signed by Flicker Records. They have played in Shoutfest, Revelation Generation, and have been featured on The Scars Remain tour with Disciple, Family Force 5, and Decyfer Down...

, Matthew West

Matthew West

On July 26, 2002, only a week or two before signing a record contract with Universal South Records, West had an injury to his left arm which threatened his musical career and guitar playing. He says, "I locked myself out of my house. But I'd done that before, and I had a way of breaking in through...

, and guest speaker Tony Nolan. The tour will hit Tacoma, Bakersfield, Fresno, Ontario, CA, Sacramento, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Portland, Boise, and Las Vegas.