Professor Bob Lyon was inspired by 1969's Woodstock to create a similar experience for fans of Christian music. In spring 1970, Lyon and some of his students at Asbury Theological Seminary hosted thousands at the first Ichthus Festival at Wilmore Campgrounds in Wilmore, Kentucky. Admission for that first event was per day, or for the weekend (equivalent to $ and $ in ). The name was taken from the , a "symbol used by the earliest Christians as a secret sign". Student-run for decades, the festival hired a director in 2000, and spent that decade expanding Ichthus Festival into a greater Christian ministry.