Editor’s note 06/02/2016: Bulladora was cancelled because of rainy conditions at Reverchon Park.
An experience – not a festival – is what co-founders Josh Harris and Zac Miller are calling Bulladora, a new addition to Dallas’ music festival boom coming to Reverchon Park this weekend. The three-day extravaganza will feature a carefully curated lineup of international indie pop artists and a plethora of special attractions, including a “Pugasus” petting zoo and hot air balloon rides.
What’s the one thing that makes Bulladora unique from other music festivals? It’s tailored specifically for the city of Dallas, organizers say.
Harris and Miller aren’t Dallas natives. Harris is from Chicago, while Miller hails from Atlanta. They met in south Florida before moving to North Texas with their wives four years ago. While they may not be born and bred Texans, Miller says they know plenty of people in Dallas who have similar stories.
“We’ve met people who have moved away or moved back recently, or similar to Josh and I, have moved to Dallas for the first time,” Miller says. “We feel like there’s a lot of fresh energy in Dallas right now and I think that we kind of represent that.”
Although Harris and Miller built Bulladora Music Experience from the ground up, they have no professional background in music. Harris sees this as an advantage and believes it has allowed them to mold the event from a different perspective, all the way down to its name. He stresses that while music is the backbone of the event, it’s not the only thing that Bulladora offers for visitors.
Attractions include a Pugasus (pugs with toy wings) petting zoo, hot air balloon rides, manicures and haircuts, a hammock village, cocktail lounge, food vendors, a pop up flea market, and a whole lot more. The festival will open with a screening of a new documentary about Daft Punk. On top of all that, a dozen-act lineup that should have indie pop fans raving. Performers include Yeasayer, AlunaGeorge, MOTHXR, Great Good Ok Fine, and a handful of local bands.
The event will take place at Oak Lawn’s Reverchon Park – a relatively experimental venue for a festival of this kind. Bulladora chose this location for various reasons, but the park is so centrally located within the city that it seemed to be an obvious choice. The park’s layout allows for a natural flow and relaxed atmosphere for visitors, which is exactly what Harris and Miller want.
“We feel like there’s a lot of fresh energy in Dallas right now and I think that we kind of represent that.”
With a somewhat unconventional venue, bands that aren’t household names, and the glut of festivals popping up left and right all over North Texas, it’s possible to jump to the conclusion that Bulladora may not have a massive turnout for its inaugural year. (The track record for other recent first-year festivals has been mixed, from completely disastrous to extraordinarily successful.) That’s not as important to organizers as it is to make sure visitors truly enjoy the experience at the park.
Harris and Miller wanted to create something they felt Dallas was missing, starting Bulladora in hopes that it would act as a sounding board to reflect the lives of people in Dallas.
“The people that live here in this city are right next to you, drinking a beer at their favorite bar or grabbing a coffee at whatever coffee shop you’re at here in Dallas – these are the same people that are going to be attending the festival,” Harris says. “It’s a cool and unique opportunity for us to convey and deliver because our ear is so close to the people that we’re expecting to come out.”
Their goal is to open people up to a different kind of musical experience – one purely for the progressive and ever-changing city of Dallas.
To buy tickets ($99 for the weekend or $49 per day) or to learn more, go here.
