On Feb. 4, Ignite Live will return to Southern Adventist University for its first show of the school year. The show will take place in Iles Gym at 8 p.m.
Regular Ignite hosts Gianna Bacchiocchi, junior health science major, and Aaron Patterson, senior mass communication – media production major, will host the production.
“Ignite Live is a live event that aims to expand our YouTube show, ‘Ignite,’ into a talk show experience,” said Professor Pablo Fernandez, Ignite’s staff sponsor. “In ‘Ignite’ we discuss meaningful topics for our community, giving students the chance to voice their opinions.”
The event is produced by the School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) in partnership with Student Association.
Ignite Live occurred twice last school year, with the first featuring special guest Alex Kendrick, a popular director of Christian films, and the second featuring Melvin Adams, a former Harlem Globetrotter and motivational speaker. Fernandez said this year’s guest speaker is yet to be confirmed but will be “major.”
Fernandez told the Accent in an interview that the Ignite team is still considering several topics and themes for the night, but they want the show to be an opportunity for students to release their stress from their everyday lives.
“Students have been bombarded with issues like mental health, school and health problems,” Fernandez said. “At our event, students can come relax, have some fun and hopefully get something out of it.”
The show will be in the format of a late night show with games and activities. Fernandez said the key guest will be participating in the entire show rather than just as a speaker. Clubs will also be allowed to participate in games for prizes and have booths, and a student-led band will be performing. In addition, curfew for on-campus students will be extended to 2 a.m.
This Ignite Live will be the first to be advertised to the Chattanooga population. When asked about the future of Ignite, Fernandez told the Accent that he hopes Ignite can be an event not only for students but also for the surrounding community.
“The long-term vision of Ignite Live is to become one of the major Christian entertainment events in Chattanooga,” he said. “We can show who we are as a university to the people just across the street.”
You can view Ignite’s episodes and past clips of the Ignite Live shows on the SJC’s YouTube channel or at the Instagram page @ignitesau.
