One year after drawing a sold-out crowd of more than 15,000 attendees and delivering millions in charitable donations to Jamaican institutions, the beloved Come Alive gospel concert is making a comeback. The second iteration of the event will take place August 1, Jamaica’s Emancipation Day, on the East Lawn of King’s House, bringing together an all-star lineup of award-winning gospel talent for a day of worship and community impact.
What many attendees may not know is that a follow-up event was never part of the original plan. Erin Hosin, chairman of the organizing body Come Alive Collective, shared the unexpected origin of this year’s staging in an interview with the Jamaica Observer following the 2026 launch at New Kingston’s Liguanea Club. “We had no plans to do a second staging, but then God spoke to our hearts and said he wanted us to call this nation to worship,” Hosin explained.
The selection of headliner Michael W. Smith, a multi-Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum selling recording artist, came about through a serendipitous encounter. A member of the Come Alive team was attending a Christmas concert in Washington, D.C. where both Smith and 2024 headliner CeCe Winans were performing. The team member overheard Winans telling Smith about her experience headlining the first Come Alive concert, and Smith shared that he had long wanted to visit Jamaica. For organizers, the choice to book him was an obvious one: “He’s an amazing man of God and we thought that having a multi-Grammy winner who has been worshipping for so many years was an easy selection,” Hosin said.
Smith brings decades of acclaim in both Christian and mainstream music to the Jamaican stage. He earned mainstream recognition in 1991 when his hit *Place in This World* climbed to number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A follow-up single, *I Will Be Here For You*, peaked at number 27 on the Hot 100 and claimed the top spot on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. Nine of Smith’s albums have earned gold certification in the U.S., with three reaching multiplatinum status, and he has claimed the number one position on Billboard’s Christian Albums chart 13 times throughout his career.
Smith will be joined on this year’s lineup by Jamaican gospel favorites including Papa San, Petra Kaye, Johnmark Wiggan, Jermaine Edwards, and a cappella group HUMBLE. A pre-show leading up to the headlining performances will feature Audience of One and competitors from the annual Jamaica Gospel Star competition.
Like the inaugural event, all net proceeds from this year’s concert will go directly to local Jamaican charities and nonprofits. Last year, proceeds funded a $17 million cataract surgery machine for the Bustamante Hospital for Children’s ophthalmology department, a donation that transformed pediatric vision care across the facility. “Since then we have been able to revolutionize vision care for our children at the hospital,” shared Dr. Leighton Maddan, head of the hospital’s ophthalmology department. Maddan added that he is grateful for last year’s contribution and eagerly anticipates the impact of continued support from the 2026 concert. This year, the Bustamante Hospital for Children will again receive proceeds, alongside the Open Door Jamaica Foundation and Clifton Boys’ Home.
Organizers have also adjusted event logistics based on lessons learned from the sold-out 2024 staging. The most notable change is an expansion of food vending across all ticketing tiers, including VIP and VVIP areas, after vendors underestimated crowd demand last year. Organizers have also promised a series of special surprises and extra activities for attendees to enjoy throughout the day.
Performing artists have echoed widespread excitement for this year’s event, many of whom are returning from the 2024 staging. Jermaine Edwards, who was unable to appear at the first concert due to prior commitments, cleared his schedule months in advance to join this year’s lineup. “It is an event that I wanted to be a part of. I saw the quality of the event from the first staging, and it was great. I believe that the message of the Lord is relevant at a time like this,” Edwards said.
Returning performer Johnmark Wiggan called out the warm reception and shared mission of the first event as motivation to rejoin. “It was an amazing concert last year. It was my first time being on a platform that served such a diverse and big audience, and it was tremendous. It was very well received; God was glorified and the mission was accomplished,” Wiggan shared.
For Chevaughn Walker of a cappella group HUMBLE, the most memorable moment of 2024 was the unified energy of the crowd in worship. “I think, for me, my best recollection would be seeing the people high in worship. That just did it for me,” he said. This year, the group plans to lean into their Jamaican roots for a special Emancipation Day performance, promising an elevated, culturally rooted a cappella set: “HUMBLE is all about Jamaican flavour and bringing just that a capella vibe mixed with the Jamaican-ness, and it’s Emancipation Day, so you know we’re coming with something exciting. We’re definitely gonna step it up this year.”
