The “Summer Worship Nights” tour, led by Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake in summer 2025, stands as a milestone for contemporary Christian music. This series of concerts attracted over 200,000 attendees, surpassing previous records set by leading worship events. In comparison, the multi-artist Winter Jam festival drew approximately 600,000 participants in 2015 across 47 multi-artist shows—but never concentrated such attendance around one or two headlining artists. Hillsong United reached over 80,000 across 12 concerts during its 2013 tour , while Tomlin UNITED and Maverick City’s Kingdom Tour individually peaked below 200,000 for entire seasons. Historic gatherings such as Explo ’72 in Dallas once drew 150,000 in a single day, but these were exceptional religious rallies, not structured modern tours.
For Summer Worship Nights 2025, major stadiums and arenas like Hersheypark Stadium (over 30,000 attendees in one night), two sold-out shows at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, and the closing concert at BMO Stadium Los Angeles sealed a record-breaking season. To accommodate demand, several venues were reconfigured for “in-the-round” setups, maximizing seating capacity. In addition to the sheer numbers, the event was defined by its ability to unify thousands from diverse backgrounds in worship, creating a collective experience rarely matched in this genre.
This achievement reflects a shift in the scale and recognition of Christian music events, demonstrating increasing public engagement and setting a new benchmark for future tours. Summer Worship Nights 2025 is thus verified as the most attended headlining worship tour in modern gospel history.
sources
- BMO Stadium – Official Press Release
- The Christian Beat – Summer Worship Nights Tour Ends With Record-Breaking Sellouts
- Gospel Music Association – Tomlin UNITED Tour Attendance Record
- Gospel Music Association – Winter Jam 2015 Attendance Records
- GodTube – Hillsong United Summer Tour Attendance
- Wikipedia – Christian Music Festival Attendance History
- The Christian Beat – Summer Worship Nights Tour Sellouts
