First annual Firefly festival lights up summer

The first Firefly Music Festival brought thousands of people to Dover this July to see performances by The Killers, Lupe Fiasco and Jack White, among others.

The three-day event attracted crowds of more than 30,000 each day to the Woodlands of Dover International Speedway from July 20 to July 22, said Kay Sass, the Dover public affairs coordinator who helped organize the event. Production company Red Frog Events presented the festival, which was co-created with Dover city officials, Sass said. 

The 2012 lineup included bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, Girl Talk, Bassnectar and Modest Mouse. University students attended, as well as people from as far as London, Sass said.

Carly Malia, a junior from Penn., said The Killers, who closed their performance with a fireworks show, was her favorite act. She said she and other festival-goers made the most of their time, staying the entire day.

 “There were so many great performers, I didn’t want to miss out on anything,” Malia said.

Attendees could purchase either a single day pass or a three-day pass for the festival. Malia stayed for one day, but said it was not enough. She plans to buy a three-day pass for next summer’s event, which has been scheduled for June 21 to 23 in Dover, according to the event’s official website. 

Sass said concert’s event planners built four different stages for the performances. Officials scheduled two performers per time slot in order to allow audiences access to as many acts as possible. In order to accommodate the large amount of attendees and performers, Sass said Dover city officials cleared out areas of the forest in order to have a venue large enough.

She said she was impressed with the positive impact the festival had on tourism in Dover. 

“Hotels in Dover were booked well in advance, even Wilmington was booked up,” Sass said. 

Audience members were allowed to camp on the grounds and many of them chose to do so, she said. She said the majority of people came from outside the area. 

Sophomore Alyssa Reyes, attended the music festival for all three day, said she thinks it brought positive attention to the state in addition to tourism.

“I think that a lot of people don’t know about Delaware, many of the performers even said that it was their first time in the state,” Reyes said. 

Sass said Firefly was the first concert of its kind in Delaware.

 “I think that this is something out of the box,” she said. “It was aimed at a different crowd of people and offered something culturally different.” 

Performers have not been announced for next year’s events, but presale tickets are already sold out. Tickets will be available for sale early in 2013, according to the festival’s website. The company will alert subscribers about exact sale dates and performers via email.

Junior Amy Cohn said after she heard how much fun her friends had at Firefly, she tried to buy tickets in advance, but was too late. She said July’s show made people eager for next summer.