We have 383 confirmed tasks on our ClickUp board right now. Add in the ones we still need to enter, and we’re closing in on 400. That’s what it actually takes to build a festival in an arena.

We’re John and Karleigh, and we founded Christcore Fest. Today we’re pulling back the curtain on the project management side of building this thing from scratch.

Who We Are Shapes How We Work

We’re married, and we’re in an international relationship. John lives in the UK. Karleigh lives in the US. When we’re apart, our whole relationship runs on Zoom and WhatsApp, work included. We’re still figuring out the rhythm that works best for us.

We also have one child with some extra needs. We split parenting duty by day. Whoever isn’t “on” gets three full workdays a week, from right after lunch until dinner. Fridays are family days, no exceptions.

Every night once our kid is in bed, we pray together over the festival and talk through next steps. That’s our rhythm.

It’s Just Us, and That’s Not a Joke

We don’t have departments. We don’t have a formal team. We are the team, and we’re a very tired one.

We see two reactions in the comments constantly. Some people assume there’s no way it’s just the two of us. Others act like running a festival this size with two people is no big deal. Neither is quite right. It really is just us, and it really is a lot.

Someone recently commented that they appreciated “us and our team.” There is no team. There’s a photo on Karleigh’s desk that looks like it could be a team photo. It’s not. It’s just us.

We will have volunteers helping out, and we’re hiring some staff for festival weekend itself. Until then, it’s the two of us running everything.

Our Other Jobs Are Now Side Hustles

We both still run other things, but they’ve taken a back seat since Christcore Fest became our full-time focus. Karleigh runs content, an Instagram, and a blog, and just started her master’s degree. She also runs a sticker business. John is a therapist and runs his own Instagram page.

None of that pays what it used to, because nearly all our time and energy goes into this festival now. We’re trusting God to fill in the financial gaps, and He has, every step of the way.

How We Split the Work

Working with your spouse means figuring out fast where your strengths actually are. Here’s how we split it.

Karleigh handles project management, finance, and legal (not as a lawyer or financial professional, just as the person who builds the systems). She manages sponsors, marketing, volunteers, and vendors. She builds and runs the content calendar, edits the YouTube channel, and serves as the main liaison with artists.

John books the bands and manages production: the stage, crowd control barriers, ticketing, hotel partnerships, and both video and show production. He’s also handling comments on YouTube, since Karleigh would rather not deal with unkind strangers all day.

Merch is Karleigh’s favorite part. She hand-makes the stickers and designs the shirts, with more products like lanyards and jelly bands coming soon. She runs the Shopify admin. John manages merch production, and they both handle design work together.

When we disagree, we’ve set the rule ahead of time. John has been to countless festivals. Karleigh hasn’t been to one this size. So on festival logistics, Karleigh shares her opinion, but John gets the final call. On content, since that’s Karleigh’s expertise, she gets the final say. Agreeing on that upfront has saved us a lot of arguments.

Why We Built Our ClickUp This Way

We manage everything in ClickUp. Karleigh already knew the platform well from a past job working for a YouTuber who taught ClickUp courses.

If our board looks overwhelming, that’s because it is. It doesn’t have to start this complex. Ours does because Karleigh knows the tool inside and out.

Building it out took weeks. Karleigh sat down and mapped every task she could think of, then kept adding more. She and John watched a podcast about a festival that went badly, and Karleigh went back and added even more tasks based on what that team got wrong. We don’t want to repeat those mistakes, and we believe doing this well is part of doing it for God.

The Payoff of Staying This Organized

Being this organized isn’t overkill. It’s an investment. We’re building a record we can use for years two, three, four, and beyond, instead of starting from zero every time.

We already have a running list of bands to reach out to for next year. We know which production partners worked well and where we need backups. When something goes over budget, like it did just last week, we can search ClickUp and find exactly where the numbers went sideways. That sheet becomes our starting point next year instead of a blank page.

The Real Hours Behind This Festival

Between the two of us, we’re putting in somewhere around 48 to 60 hours a week each right now. Karleigh is also trying to get ahead on content before her master’s program starts, aiming for two months of content banked in advance.

If you’re building something this size, don’t skip the organizational work. It’s not fun, but it matters. If you can’t do it yourself, find someone who can.

It’s Not Really Two People

Yes, it’s two of us running this. But really, it’s us and the Lord. We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t called to it.

Every time we thought we understood how big this festival would be, God showed us it needed to be bigger. When we’ve tried to make it about us, He’s humbled us fast. If God told us tomorrow to shut it all down, we would, even with the embarrassment that would come with it.

We’re surrounded by doubt, online and in person, and we’re learning not to be surprised by that anymore. We’re not building this for the people who doubt us. We’re building it for God. Almost nobody has run a two-day festival with 20-plus bands and 4,000 people. We take advice seriously, but we filter it through what we believe God has called us to do.

Grounded in Scripture

This whole process reminds us of Gideon (Judges 7). God shrank his army from 10,000 men to 300 and sent them into battle with jars and torches instead of weapons, on purpose, so there’d be no way for Gideon to take credit for the outcome.

That’s the posture we want. We’re being obedient. God produces the results. We still have a lot to learn, and we expect to get plenty wrong along the way. We’d rather admit that now than pretend otherwise.

Every morning starts with personal time in the Bible before the workday begins. That’s not optional for us. It sets the tone for everything else, and we genuinely could not do this without leaning on God for every part of it.

Follow Along and Stay Updated

Follow us on Instagram at @christcorefest for regular updates. Get on the email list for band announcements, hotel info, and behind the scenes content you won’t find anywhere else.

And if you want to wear what you believe while we build this thing, check out the merch shop for shirts and stickers made for people who don’t water down their faith or their playlist.