New Horizon is a seven day Christian festival that takes place every year on the Ulster University campus in Coleraine, set on the picturesque north coast of Northern Ireland. It exists to provide a space and time in which thousands of people of all ages can be taught from the bible, be inspired through worship and story, develop a missional heart, and engage with relevant and challenging issues.
The event has been running in NI since 1989 and we are very much looking forward to seeing and hearing what God has in store for us in the years and decades to come. People of all ages attend a multi-faceted programme of events. New Horizon does not attach an up-front cost to the adult events as we seek to be as accessible to as many people as possible. We rely solely on the generosity of all who give through gifts and offerings and draw in people from a wide variety of church backgrounds. Although clearly evangelical our gathering is populated by those who are reformed, charismatic, those who may not know (or want to know) the difference, and some who are a bit of both! We have those who come from churches and backgrounds that permit women to engage in full leadership and those who don't. We have those who prefer traditional expressions of worship and those who want to press into the worshipping expressions of tomorrow. We have those who go for full immersion and those who wet the baby's head! This has been reflected across the years, and continues to be expressed, across our various planning committees, stage hosts, invited speakers, worship leaders, and the army of helpers who pull the whole event together. The event normally starts on the first Saturday in August and runs until the following Friday. It’s non-residential – so apart from pre-registration for the Children/Youth programme you can just turn up. Each year we build a ‘tented village’ on the edge of the university campus with a ‘Main Tent’ that seats 3,000 people. The Evening Celebrations start at 7:30pm (Sat-Fri) and the morning Bible teaching starts at 10:00am (Mon-Fri), both in the New Horizon ‘Pavilion’. From 11:45am -12:45pm a number of NH Explore seminars take place in various locations in the tented village and lecture theatres in the main university building. Major elements in the programme are Evening Celebrations, Morning Bible Teaching (Mon-Fri), Seminars, , Children's work (undertaken by Scripture Union), Celebration for those with learning disabilities, separate programmes for youth and senior teens, and end-of-day informal activities on and off site. There are usually no formal meetings in the afternoons.
