Let's Fest

Art, music, and family fun await at 2 treasured Richardson festivals

Add two festivals to the list of things blooming in Richardson each spring: Cottonwood Art Festival and Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival.

It’s the 55th year for Cottonwood Art Festival (May 4-5) and the 32nd for Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival (May 17-19). Here’s what you need to know about both:

Cottonwood Art Festival

What to expect: No matter your art personality type, you’ll find something to love amid more than 200 global artists’ juried work, spanning paintings and sculpture to ceramics, jewelry, fiber art, fine glass, woodwork, mixed media, and photography.

Make sure to look for this year's featured artist, ceramicist Gregory Story. The South Texas native now works out of his Chicago studio, Modern Clay, but studied at both Texas Christian University and the University of Texas at Arlington. He's known for his signature smiley sculptures, which were created as a welcome back post-COVID, and has added onto them with baseball caps in orange, blue, black, and red.

There’s also live music across two stages along with an arts-and-crafts area for the kiddos and plenty of food and drink for all on tap.

Where: Cottonwood Park, 1321 W. Belt Line Rd.

When: Saturday, May 4, 10 am-7 pm; Sunday, May 5, 10 am-5 pm.

Tickets: Admission and parking are both free, with shuttles running continuously between the park and the Richardson High School football stadium lot.

History lesson: Celebrating 55 years, the award-winning Cottonwood Art Festival is a twice-yearly juried show that has become a signature art event in the community and beyond. The festival also provides innovative outreach programs for students, with the goal of broadening interest in visual arts and bringing the art world into classrooms.

More details:CottonwoodArtFestival.com

Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival

What to expect: With six stages and 100-plus performers, including Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Randy Rogers Band, KC & The Sunshine Band, The Struts, Sister Sledge, Monica Saldivar, and more, your listening schedule will be packed at this fest.

Beyond the stages, the Prosperity Bank Marketplace is a one-stop-shop for local and regional accessories, art, home decor, apparel, and more.

There’s also The Zoo art guitar auction, songwriter competition, and Patterson & Associates Performance Row that features street performers, acrobats, and magicians. Plus, look for Wildflower! Kids, a family-fun zone with art, games, informative activities, and kid-friendly tunes.

Wildflower! in Richardson is always a can't-miss event.

Photo courtesy of Wildflower! Festival

Wildflower! in Richardson is always a can't-miss event.

Where: Galatyn Park Urban Center, located at Galatyn Parkway and U.S. 75.

When: Friday, May 17, 6 pm-midnight; Saturday, May 18, 11 am-midnight; Sunday, May 19, 11 am-6 pm.

Tickets: Friday and Saturday are $30 online ($45 at the gate), Sunday is $15 online ($25 at the gate), and kids 12 and under are free. Richardson residents can score tickets for only $15.

A three-day pass is $65, and the popular Friends of the Festival VIP package is $400. It includes 2 VIP wristbands for the weekend, access to preferred VIP seating at Methodist Richardson Medical Center Stage, complimentary food and beverages (including beer and wine), shade and relaxed seating in the VIP Hospitality Lounge, and 1 VIP parking pass valid for the entire weekend.

Parking: Complimentary parking will be available within the nearby surrounding area. Festival-goers are encouraged to take advantage of the DART Red Line light rail, which stops at the Galatyn Park Station, located immediately adjacent to the west side of the festival grounds.

History lesson: Wildflower! began as a small community gathering in 1993 and has since become one of the most popular cultural events in North Texas, with tens of thousands of fans showing up for their favorite artists.

More details:WildflowerFestival.com

festivals galleries music concerts families promoted

RIP Chris

Dallas DJ and record store owner Chris Penn passes away

Courtesy photo

Chris Penn at Good Records

Following a serious accident, Christopher Todd Penn, a DJ and co-founder of music store Good Records, passed away on April 23; he was 54. Penn fell while at work and sustained serious damage, causing paralysis from the neck down.

His wife Jenn shared the news of his death, stating that "his injuries were just too great for his ravaged body to continue."

"These are the hardest words I have ever had to write, to witness and process. My kids have lost heir father, I lost my partner of 21. years, his brother has lost hishero, many have lost a dear friend, and Dallas has lost a treasure," she said.

The accident occurred on March 17 when Penn was taking down advertising decals on the front window of Good Records, when the decal unexpectedly gave way and he fell backwards landing directly on his back. His friend and Good Records co-owner Tim DeLaughter described the fall as "catastrophic," stating that "his spinal cord was bruised and paralysis was immediate from the neck down."

Penn remained in the hospital until he died.

No visitors were allowed but a GoFundMe raised more than $200,000 for Chris' wife Jennifer, and their three sons Oliver, Archie, and Grover.

Penn grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Texas A&M in 1993, then moved to Dallas to work with Tripping Daisy, running their merchandise table. He spent his life in the music industry in many capacities including performing as a DJ, producing shows, running a music label, and co-founding Good Records, with DeLaughter and DeLaughter's wife Julie Doyle in 2000.

Chris Penn and Alice Cooper Chris Penn, left, with Alice Cooper, whose reunion he helped instigate.Courtesy photo

The store, as well as Penn himself, earned great affection from the local music community by hosting frequent in-store events, including performances, signings, listening parties for new records, and meet-and-greets with a broad spectrum of national touring acts: from Tommy Tutone to Jason Boland to the famous reunion of Alice Cooper — a reunion that had stuck to this day: In July, the legendary rock band is releasing a new album called The Revenge of Alice Cooper, featuring all the original members.

In her post, Jenn hinted that a memorial concert was in the works.

"Early on in his recovery, we would stay up late into the night brainstorming bands we could ask to play his benefit concert," she said. "I remember saying to him, 'think pie in the sky, nobody is too big.' When he said Willie Nelson, I thought, 'well maybe not THAT big.' For a time, this gave his mind something to focus on and look forward to. That concert will happen and he will be there with us. Stay tuned as we iron out all the details.

She called Chris "an incredible force of nature and his heart always seemed to have room for more connection ... more love ... more friendships. That is who Chris was. That will be his legacy for our kids."

deaths