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 50,000 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 16th anniversary in 2008, 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.

Completely produced and managed by the City of Richardson, Wildflower! is located a few minutes north of Dallas at Galatyn Parkway and US 75.

The name Wildflower!, when referring to the festival, is always spelled with an exclamation point after it to signify that it’s much more than a small beacon of color- At any one time and at any one place inside the festival you can be exposed to multiple elements of culture, music, food, and the arts.

Festival programming includes two main outdoor performance stages featuring local, regional and headliner bands, the Kidz Korner, the Acoustic Café, 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 Court, and the Wild Ride- a bike ride to benefit cancer research.

History

Begun as a springtime community event to celebrate the wild flowers planted throughout the city, Wildflower! quickly “blossomed” 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 here that the fledgling event was able to expand to three days and eventually grew to cover over 30 acres 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. 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 Renaissance Hotel as well as use of the greenway space belonging to Countrywide and Nortel.

Lineups

1995- The Dixie Chicks, Lee Greenwood

1996- Firefall, America, Michael McDonald, Chuck Negron, Toto, Tracy Byrd, The Temptations, Mickey Thomas of Starship

1997- 5th Dimension, Loverboy, .38 Special, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, David Kersh, Eddie Money, Marty Stuart, Survivor, Randy Bachman

1998- Dan Fogelberg, The Commodores, Christopher Cross

1999- The Beach Boys, David Clayton Thomas, Huey Lewis & The News, Kenny Loggins, Sister Hazel, Robert Cray, Spin Doctors

2000- The Bacon Brothers, A.J. Croce, Isaac Hayes, Don McClean, ELO, Bruce Hornsby, WAR, Steven Bishop, Neal McCoy

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

2002- (one-day festival) Wilson Pickett, Colin Haye, Southern Culture on the Skids, Trout Fishing in America

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

2004- Paul Rodgers, Blues Traveler, Tanya Tucker, The Polyphonic Spree, Brian McCommas, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Blue Oyster Cult, The Classical Mystery Tour, Ken Navarro, Chris Duarte, Stephanie Urbina Jones, 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

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

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

2008- Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Bret Michaels Rock of Love Tour, America, Everclear, The Guess Who, Loverboy, Jerry Jeff Walker, Blue Oyster Cult, Kathy Mattea, Eve 6, Roger Creager, Firehouse, Seven Mary Three, Quietdrive, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Butch Hancock, The Django Walker Band, Candy Coburn, No Justice, Slaid Cleaves, Jon Vezner, Steve Fromholz, Chris Smither, and Paramount's LaserSpectacular featuring the Music of Pink Floyd.

External links

* [http://www.wildflowerfestival.com WildFlower Festival] , official web site