FOLEY, Ala. — The promoter of a proposed “Festival of Musicians” that would be held in this area during Spring Break said the event potentially could be “the coolest show the world has ever seen.”

Rick Shell said this week that he and his team have been working on the festival for 11 months and believe the event could draw anywhere from 5,000 festivalgoers to 20,000 to 30,000.

“We plan to do it annually,” said Shell, who describes himself as a local. He called the inaugural festival a “stepping stone” to bigger and better festivals.

Information concerning the event appears on a Web site, festivalofmusicians.com. The event is billed as a three-day Spring Break event that would be held March 12-14, 2010, on Miflin Road.

According to the Web site, the event would include “camping, 300+ bands, over 500 hours of music!” The Web site also described the event as an “all out, non-stop 3 day music party.”

The site of the proposed festival is “21774 Miflin Rd, Foley, AL” with “Multiple stages and performance areas … scattered over 200 acres of gently rolling land just minutes from the white sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.”

A Festival of Musicians economic impact assessment supplied by Shell estimates the festival could have a $1.1 million economic impact on the surrounding area if 5,000 attendees show up and a $6.7 million impact if 30,000 are on hand.

Foley city officials and tourist officials from the area were asking questions about the Web site at week’s end. A Foley city official did say that Shell has asked to appear at one of the upcoming council work sessions in February in connection with the music festival.

Kathy Danielson of the Foley Convention & Visitors Bureau said she knew nothing about the proposed festival and has received no promotional material concerning it.

Lt. David White of the Foley Police Department said this week that Shell has talked with them about the proposed festival. On Friday, Shell said he was going to talk with FPD and other city departments again that same day about matters related to the festival.

The Miflin Road site advertised on the Web site for the festival is the northwest corner of the Foley Beach Express and County Road 20, according to a Foley city official.

The Web site said the proposed festival would be a type of Woodstock event that will feature “The Gauntlet,” where bands and acts perform on stages “one to three times per day” and earn “kudos” or voting tokens for their performances. The kudos can be redeemed for cash at the festival by the bands.

According to Shell, the event would have 12 stages and two main stages. There would be two Gauntlet stages, as well as open performance areas and singer, songwriter areas. As Shell describes it, while the kudos or voting tokens would reflect festivalgoers appreciation of particular bands or acts, judges will make the determination concerning which bands or acts merit playing at night on the main stages in front of all festivalgoers.

“I’m the guy who thought the whole thing up,” Shell said of the Festival of Musicians. Shell has been a part of similar festivals on a smaller scale in California and Alaska, he said, and, as a musician himself, has worked with such well-known musicians as Jason Mraz and Jewel.

“We’ve got an awesome response from all over the world,” Shell said, noting he has 250 bands on roster currently for the festival and “70 to 80 more in my inbox” that he hasn’t had time to consider as yet.

“We welcome all musicians, whether you or your band play new rock, classic rock, blues, folk, country, jazz, reggae, Christian, metal, hip hop, or even blue grass music!,” the Web site says.

Vendor booths and arts and crafts are advertised on the Web site as well.

“My vision for this thing is a concert at every car, lawn chairs, BBQs and LOTS of music,” the Web site says.

“It is about individual musicians and what you can contribute to a large pool of musical talent. Expect many magical moments at this Festival of Musicians. It is a new concept. ‘Experimental’ if you will.”

As Shell put it on Friday concerning the Festival of Musicians, “Like the Shrimp Festival is about shrimp, this is about music.”

Among the bands Shell said he has on roster for the festival are Sugarcane Jane, Three Days Straight, Bones in the Museum, Gray Wolf, Zen the Band, Gravel, Mechanics of Resonance, The Love Dog Experiment, Tequila Mockingbird, Liquid Chicken and Atomic Plowmule.