Delaware??? What State Is That Even In?
This is the response we often heard when we told people we were moving from the Washington, DC area to Delaware in early 2012. The truth was, we were begrudgingly relocating for jobs and were just as concerned as our friends about what our lives in Delaware would look like. As big music fans and frequent attendees of concerts around the city the Dover area seemed . . . well . . . boring. Little did we know the universe was about to drop a big gift in our laps – The Firefly Music Festival.
How It Began 
I was sitting in class on a regular week day about four years ago surfing through the news instead of paying attention, when I saw a post about Firefly Music Festival – Dover, Delaware. Dover…Delaware? Our Dover Delaware? You never know, I have been tricked before into thinking some awesome concert was in Delaware only to realize that the DE stood Germany or something. But no, this time it was Delaware and we had a brand new music festival coming our way. Just like that our relationship (sometimes obsessive) with Firefly began.
It started in 2012, when we attended Firefly just the two of us. I was studying for the bar exam and my strongest memory of the first year was sitting on a blanket listening to Grouplove and studying my outlines for the exam that was just a couple days away.
Why Are You Always Talking About Firefly?
Now that I have called Dover boring, I should probably add that after living here for the last four years and adjusting to life outside of DC, we are a lot less bored and a lot more at peace. Firefly has definitely helped with our adjustment.
In fact, we are proud attendees of all four Firefly’s and it has served as a great way for us to introduce Delaware to our friends. It has also been like a little beacon of fun (a mini-vacation) waiting in the otherwise mundane grown up lives we have to lead the rest of the year. Every year when I start posting about Firefly and starting to see which friends are going to come up and stay with us for the festival – I start to get questions. Why are you guys so into Firefly? What’s so great about it? What’s it like? Is it really worth $300 bucks?
Because it is the greatest thing ever! Ok, but seriously, why do I love Firefly so much and more importantly why am I always trying to share (or force) the experience with so many friends?
It’s All About the Experience
Attending a music festival, especially Firefly, is something that I think everyone should experience. It provides a unique opportunity to experience and be part of something bigger than ourselves – sharing an amazing wooded concert venue with thousands of people, watching artists you might not otherwise have the chance to see and standing in the beautiful sunshine.
While writing this post, I actually spent some time thinking about the moments that have really made Firefly special to me. It really is about the moments – where you just think wow this is beautiful, this is fun, and I am so happy to be here. Moments like: singing Blackbird (and crying) along with Paul Mccartney and 90,0000 others; getting to experience The Lumineers performance and the crowd in 2014 from one of the stage side viewing platforms (see above); Bastille covering No Scrubs; just happening upon Tove Lo’s acoustic set at the Coffee House; or standing within inches of Garrett Borns during Empire of the Sun – I swear it happened I just don’t have the pictures on my phone.
But it isn’t just the big moments or the performances – my love of Firefly comes from the simple things too – walking over the bridge with the pack of festival goers; margaritas on a blanket in the grass with one of my co-workers after a crappy week; people watching; raining glow sticks; fun pictures with friends; and that delicious delicious corn on the cob.
I mean, doesn’t that sound like a great time to you? We already have our tickets for this year and plan to host a house full of guests, but there will always be room for more! If you are reading this and you are thinking about coming to Firefly, I hope you will take the plunge. I promise it is an experience you will never forget or regret. If you are still on the fence or have questions about Firefly – feel free to reach out to me. I would love to convince you to come or help you get more excited if you are already planning to attend! Hope you will join me in The Woodlands for a margarita and some corn in just 106 days!!!
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