FAQs

Painting on canvas, by Conor, age 14

What is WildFlowers Music Park?

WildFlowers Music Park will be a venue for music, dance, arts, education, and enjoyment of the outdoors. The property is approximately 270 acres just south of Melrose, Florida. The community of Melrose is at the corners of four counties, and has a long history of agriculture, creative arts, entrepreneurship, and lakefront living.

The nature park will have a 2.5 mile loop trail through five distinct Florida ecosystems that will be open to the public. The land is a gently rolling mosaic of upland meadows, mixed hardwood forests, and wetlands that range from small sinkholes to bottomland swamps to a 10-acre ephemeral sandhill lake. WildFlowers is more than a name – many species of native wildflowers will be actively propagated on the site as a seed-source for other land conservation projects in the region.

Wildflowers is also the title of a solo album and song by local musical legend Tom Petty, and is an inspiration that resonates with our place and purpose:

"You belong among the wildflowers

You belong somewhere close to me

Far away from your trouble and worry

You belong somewhere you feel free"

Who will own WildFlowers Music Park?

The park property will be owned by WildFlowers Music Park, Inc., a Florida non-profit corporation registered on November 26, 2024. This group will manage the park and operate a music and dance festival. Festival proceeds will be used to re-pay the private lenders who financed the purchase of the property.

Who are the board of directors of Wildflowers Music Park, Inc.?

The Board of Directors of WildFlowers Music Park are: Eli Collins, Guy Forchion, Andy Kane, Kenneth Metzker, Jordan Puryear, and Stacia Smith. All board members serve as volunteers without compensation. Three additional board members may be appointed up to a total of nine.

What kind of music festivals will happen at WildFlowers Music Park?

The festivals will be similar to "GrassRoots" festivals in Trumansburg, NY and Pittsboro, NC, which were both co-founded by Jordan Puryear, the principal founder of WildFlowers. The festivals will have music and activities for people of all ages. Musical styles vary from folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz, funk, reggae, world music, etc. Some performers will be nationally and internationally known, and others are regional or local talent.

What is a "Grassroots" festival?

A Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance is a community-driven celebration of music, arts, culture, and togetherness that emphasizes creativity and local engagement. Unlike larger for-profit festivals, Grassroots Festivals are smaller in scale and foster a welcoming, laid-back atmosphere. These multi-day events feature an eclectic mix of music genres, and Grassroots Festivals also include a broad range of visual arts, crafts, dance, performance, storytelling, and wellness activities for all ages, creating a vibrant and participatory experience that appeals to families, friends, and solo adventurers alike.

Grassroots Festivals foster a sense of connection – with others and with the environment. At events like the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance and the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, the community participation and spirit are palpable. These festivals are organized by passionate volunteers who embrace the notion that our society needs more places and times for people to interact in person rather than virtually. Attendees are encouraged to camp on-site, wander between stages, and engage in spontaneous jam sessions or activities with strangers-turned-friends. It’s not just about enjoying performances; it’s about being part of something larger – a celebration of shared humanity, creativity, and the joy of gathering together.

Why is WildFlowers Music Park being located in Melrose?

Melrose is a unique location with a community of artists, entrepreneurs, retirees, and musicians. It is also within Alachua County which is home to the University of Florida and the City of Gainesville with a multi-generational population who will enjoy a multi-cultural festival celebrating the arts, education and well-being. The two established long-term GrassRoots festival sites are also set in rural communities outside larger cities known for their thriving culture of performing and visual arts. The upstate New York site, near Ithaca, hosts their GrassRoots festival in Summer (July). The North Carolina site, in the piedmont’s Triangle region, hosts their GrassRoots festivals in Spring and in Fall (May and October).

The Melrose site would hold its festival in Winter (February or March). Within the four-county region of Alachua, Putnam, Clay, and Bradford counties, there are no festival sites with on-site camping available for attendees. The 270-acre site near Melrose has a balance of forested and open land sufficient for performance space, vendors, camping, nature areas, and parking, while also being large enough to provide substantial buffers to adjacent neighbors.

How many people will attend the festivals in Melrose?

Grassroots Festivals are three or four days, and approximately half of the attendees are on-site campers. It is anticipated that the first few events will bring in 1500-3000 paying attendees. Another 500-900 people will attend who are performers, vendors, contractors, volunteers, sponsors, etc. Once established, Grassroots festivals can bring in 5000+ ticketed attendees, with another 1000-2000 volunteers and other participants.

What will the sound levels be like?

Grassroots Festivals feature musicians and sound engineers who are experienced with folk and roots music events that have a much lower volume level than large rock concerts and electronic dance music shows.

The Festival site is large with forested areas and rolling terrain intervening. One purpose for keeping the main stage sound levels low is to not compete with the festival site’s smaller stages, which will be a few hundred feet away from the main stage. The smaller stages will be practically inaudible off-site. Sound from the main stage will be audible offsite under some conditions, but at the property boundaries of the WildFlowers Music Park, sounds will be substantially lower than any noise ordinances or local standards. Below is a more detailed explanation of our noise-reduction strategies:

A. Utilizing the Natural Contours of the Land

The main stage will be placed at the bottom of a gentle slope so that the sound will be directed downward towards the ground rather than outward towards neighbors. By placing the stage lower than the sloping terrain it faces, some of the sound energy will be absorbed by the earth or diffused by surrounding vegetation.

B. Orienting the Stage away from Houses

Sound direction is determined by speaker placement. By pointing the speakers away from the nearest homes, the sound field does not project toward residential areas. Even a slight adjustment in the direction of the stage and speakers can make a significant difference in the

volume of sound that reaches a given location. Typically, the sound levels are least at 90-degree angles from the main speaker direction.

C. Using a Vegetative Buffer

We have a wide, mature buffer of large live oak trees and other vegetation surrounding the site. Trees, shrubs, and thick vegetation help to reduce noise. While they may not completely block sound, they can help break it up, diffusing it and reducing its intensity. These existing buffers will also reduce or eliminate lights from the stage from being seen off-site.

D. Line Array Speaker Systems

We will use a "line array" system for our main stage. A line array is a set of multiple speakers arranged in a vertical line. Unlike traditional speaker stacks, line arrays can be precisely aimed by adjusting the angles of each speaker in the array. This approach ensures that the area in front of the stage (where the audience is) gets the clear, full sound they expect, while areas farther afield or off to the sides receive significantly less volume.

E. Bass Trap Woofers and Active Noise Cancellation Techniques

The greatest challenge in controlling sound at outdoor music venues is managing low frequencies (bass). Low-frequency sounds have longer wavelengths and can travel farther, often wrapping around obstacles and being audible behind walls or windows. To address this, we will use what are known as "bass trap" woofers and phase-canceling techniques.

· Bass Trap Woofers: These are specialized speaker enclosures and devices designed to absorb or redirect low-frequency sound rather than projecting it in all directions.

· Phase Cancellation: Sound is a wave. If you produce the same sound wave slightly out of step (out of phase) with the original wave, the two waves can partially cancel each other out. We will use speakers emitting low-frequency signals that are timed to be just out of sync (or out of phase) with the main bass output. This "inverse phasing" helps reduce the amount of low-frequency sound that escapes to the sides of the stage, cutting down on the booming effect that neighbors might otherwise hear.

F. Placement of Equipment and Structures

By strategically placing equipment like amplifiers and subwoofers (low-frequency speaker units) and solid structures (like the stage itself or purpose-built sound walls), we will further minimize noise spillover and re-direct sound back toward the audience.

G. Monitoring and Sound Level Management

We will not rely on technology and staging alone. Sound levels will be monitored in real-time using decibel meters (devices that measure sound levels). If levels approach or exceed our target thresholds at the property edges, we can adjust the volume during the event. By regularly measuring actual sound levels, we can actively respond to off-site complaints.

H. Communication and Continuous Improvement

Finally, controlling sound is an ongoing effort. We will remain open to input from neighbors. If issues arise, we can consider additional measures such as adding temporary sound barriers, adjusting speaker orientations, or further lowering volumes, especially in the evening. Our main stage will shut down by 11pm, and our smaller stages will reduce their levels in the evening by emphasizing quieter music. Besides being a music venue, we have many campers who will also be going to bed nearby, and who want to wake up refreshed for the many morn-ing events such as meditation, yoga, guided nature walks, and learning new skills. With each event, we can refine our techniques to strike the best balance between a great concert experience and being good neighbors.

For the full FAQs downloadable PDF, click here:

WildFlowers FAQs - 4-8-25.pdf

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