The Blissfest Music Organization has been active for 20 years in preserving American cultural heritage. Music, dance, crafts and oral traditions have been passed down over generations of pioneers and American immigrants. This shared heritage is kept alive and continues to be passed on to future generations through the work of the Blissfest Music Organization.

The purpose of the Blissfest Traditional Arts Education Center is to provide opportunities for families, individuals and groups to participate in cultural heritage programs. The programming will focus on education in the form of workshops, presentations and individual instruction in musical instruments, dance, crafts and cultural history. Planned programming will include performances that showcase traditional folk arts, including the annual Blissfest Festival and a limited number of smaller traditional music events. The proposed education center will also provide opportunities for the participation of local schools and community groups to benefit from traditional arts workshops and other educational programs. The facility will also be made available to local community groups for fundraisers. This long-term plan will be slowly implemented over a span of 10 years and will include 4 separate phases of development. The traditional arts center calls for the development of a modest camping facility concentrated on 40 acres and retains a large portion of the remaining 75 acres as open space. This long term comprehensive land use plan is intended to use the land less intensively than FF-2 allows, designate the scope and intensity of use, provide and protect open space and preserve cultural heritage.

Phase 1 begins in 2001 and seeks approval for the weekend Blissfest Folk Festival held in July. There will be few facilities changes or additions from the current site. The Blissfest is agreeable to negotiating a conditions of use arrangement with the township and the county in consultation with the local community. The agreement would provide for specifications regarding use for each phase of development including number of participants and the number of campsites as well as a list of operational specifics. The organization is also willing to negotiate a cap on the size of the Blissfest that is mutually acceptable. The festival currently has 4,200 paid attendees with about another 800 in children, performers, venders, volunteers and staff for a total of approximately 5,000 participants.

Phase 2 begins in 2002 and proposes up to 2 additional smaller traditional weekend events featuring cultural heritage programs about 1/4 the size of Blissfest to be slowly phased in over the next 5-10 years. Blissfest Organization will operate these events with a mutually agreeable conditions of use agreement.

Phase 3 begins in 2003-2006 with the development of a small permanent camping area(50 sites) and a few cabins along with a permanent dance and activities pavilion as well as a small camp store on our original 40 acre site. We are proposing to add some small weekend traditional arts educational events that provide camping accommodations for up to 250 people. The folk camp activities would be restricted to our original 40 acre site and allow our remaining 80 acres to stay open space. A key element of our plan is to preserve a large portion of the property as a no-build area that is only used for parking and camping during the Blissfest and to an even more limited extent for 1-2 smaller weekend events. The remainder of the year it would be open space. The traditional arts camp would also operate under an agreed to conditions of use.

Phase 4 begins in 2006-2010 and would be a continuation of phase 3 with additional camp sites(50-75), a multi- purpose building and a shower building on the original 40 acre site. This final phase will be able to accommodate up to 500 campers. The facility would continue to be used primarily on specified weekends for small groups to immerse themselves in traditional arts and also enjoy Northern Michigan recreation.

We believe that the proposal balances the need to be sensitive to and maintain the rural quality of the area along with enhancing our collective quality of life with economic, cultural, educational and recreational opportunities for Northern Michigan. The full narrative of the plan is available by going to Full Plan Narrative or by contacting the Blissfest at 348-2815. We welcome any comments or concerns by mail or email, jim@blissfest.org.

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