Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival
The Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival (a.k.a. the Richardson WildFlower Festival) is an event held annually in Richardson, Texas, and typically has a turn out of about 60,000 people. It began in 1993 as a small community event held in a local park in northeast Richardson, Texas, and got its name from the March through May celebration season when wildflowers blossom throughout the city. Having just celebrated its 19th anniversary in 2011, Wildflower! is now a three-day event attracting over 60,000 attendees and has grown to become one of North Texas’ most recognized and anticipated music festivals. The name Wildflower!, when referring to the festival, is always spelled with an exclamation point.
Completely produced and managed by the city of Richardson, Wildflower! is located a few minutes north of Dallas at Galatyn Parkway and US 75. Festival programming includes two main outdoor performance stages featuring local, regional and headliner bands, the Kidz Korner, strolling entertainers/buskers, interactive displays and exhibits, the Wild Marketplace, the award-winning Singer/Songwriter Contest and Stage, the Battle of the Bands competition, the Art Guitar Auction, the Budding Talent Competition, the Taste of Texas Food Garden, and the Wild Ride-a bike ride to benefit cancer research.[1]
History
Begun as a springtime community event to celebrate the wild flowers planted throughout the city, Wildflower! grew in 1995 when headliner bands were added.
Growing crowds and subsequent logistical challenges lead the festival to its first move from Breckinridge Park to the Greenway Corporate Office Park at US75 and Campbell Rd. It was there that the fledgling event was able to expand to three days and eventually grew to cover over 30 acres (120,000 m2) featuring multiple stages, arts, music, exhibits, and family activities.
Experiencing more growing pains, the event moved in 2002 to its present location, the Galatyn Park Urban Center.[2] With its new home the festival was now able to offer the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts, a festival plaza, a DART light rail station, the Venue Luxury Apartments, the Renaissance Hotel as well as use of the greenway space belonging to Bank of America.
Lineups
| Year |
Performers |
| 2011 |
REO Speedwagon, Whitesnake, The Guess Who, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jack Ingram, Fuel (band), Cracker, Lit, Seven Mary Three, Sister Hazel, Better Than Ezra, Little River Band, Sara Hickman, Roger Creager, Joe Ely, Frontiers - the Journey Tribute Band, Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes, and Night Fever - The Bee Gees Tribute |
| 2010 |
The B-52s, Vince Neil (of Mötley Crüe), .38 Special, Candlebox, Los Lonely Boys, Carolina Liar, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Bowling For Soup, Mute Math, Sweet, Cowboy Mouth, Delbert McClinton, Rio Grand, Slaid Cleaves, The Laws, Eliza Gilkyson, Le Freak, Frontiers - The Journey Tribute Band, Casey James, and Hard Night's Day |
| 2009 |
Kansas, The Toadies, Rick Springfield, Kool & The Gang, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Hoobastank, Night Ranger, Tonic, Jackopierce, The Wailers, Edgar Winter, Badfish, The Killdares, The Spazmatics, Le Freak, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Vance Gilbert, and Kraig Parker |
| 2008 |
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Bret Michaels' Rock of Love Tour, America, Everclear, The Guess Who, Loverboy, Jerry Jeff Walker, Blue Öyster Cult, Kathy Mattea, Eve 6, Roger Creager, FireHouse, Seven Mary Three, Quietdrive, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Butch Hancock, Django Walker, Candy Coburn, No Justice, Slaid Cleaves, Jon Vezner, Steve Fromholz, Chris Smither, and Paramount's LaserSpectacular featuring the music of Pink Floyd |
| 2007 |
Grand Funk Railroad, Better Than Ezra, Morris Day and the Time, Fastball, Jo Dee Messina, Foghat, Shooter Jennings, The Original Family Stone, Chuck Negron, Soul Asylum, The Romantics, Eddie Money, John Waite, Tracy Byrd, Austin Lounge Lizards, Paramount’s LaserSpectacular featuring the music of Pink Floyd, Le Freak |
| 2006 |
K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Bowling For Soup, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Spinners, Loverboy, Gregg Rolie, Jonny Lang, Cowboy Mouth, The Click Five, Lisa Loeb, Shawn Colvin, The Vanished, The Knack, Jimmie Vaughan, Ruthie Foster |
| 2005 |
Cheap Trick, The Neville Brothers, Julie Roberts, Miranda Lambert, Rick Springfield, Darryl Worley, Leon Russell, Ryan Cabrera, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Cowboy Mouth, Bugs Henderson, Joe Ely, Mickey Thomas of Starship, Pure Prairie League |
| 2004 |
Paul Rodgers, Blues Traveler, Tanya Tucker, The Polyphonic Spree, Brian McComas, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Blue Öyster Cult, The Classical Mystery Tour, Ken Navarro, Chris Duarte, Stephanie Urbina Jones, Ruthie Foster |
| 2003 |
Peter Frampton, Morris Day and the Time, Smash Mouth, Taylor Dayne, Roberta Flack, Joe Bonamassa, Nine Days, Jonny Lang, Gin Blossoms, Fattburger, Cathy Richardson Band, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Chuck Negron, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Old 97s, The Kingston Trio, The Marshall Tucker Band, Shemekia Copeland, Steve Azar |
| 2002 |
(one-day festival) Wilson Pickett, Colin Haye, Southern Culture on the Skids, Trout Fishing in America |
| 2001 |
America, Collective Soul, The Go Go’s, The Doobie Brothers, En Vogue, Hank Williams Jr., Grand Funk Railroad, Flock of Seagulls, The Kentucky Headhunters, Cowboy Mouth, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, Shawn Mullins, Sam Moore, Percy Sledge, The Romantics, Splender, Sugarbomb, Loverboy, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band |
| 2000 |
The Bacon Brothers, A.J. Croce, Isaac Hayes, Don McClean, ELO, Bruce Hornsby, War, Steven Bishop, Neal McCoy |
| 1999 |
The Beach Boys, David Clayton Thomas, Huey Lewis & The News, Kenny Loggins, Sister Hazel, Robert Cray, Spin Doctors, The Commodores |
| 1998 |
Dan Fogelberg, Kansas, Christopher Cross |
| 1997 |
The 5th Dimension, Loverboy, .38 Special, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, David Kersh, Eddie Money, Marty Stuart, Survivor, Randy Bachman |
References
- ^ Kara, Kunkel (March 4, 2005). "Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival". Dallas News.
- ^ Gubbins, Teresa (May 10, 2003). "Concert has feel of city Wildflower! festival gets commuting crowds and new urban style". Dallas Morning News.
External links