The History of Firefly Music Festival in Dover Delaware
This post was originally written by WJBR Digital Production Intern, Joy Paganucci. Paganucci is a senior Media Communications Honors student at the University of Delaware from New York, NY. Along with being a Digital Content Intern for WJBR, Paganucci also works as Executive Producer for Real Talk, a show on the UD Student Television Network and as an Oral Communications Consultant in the UD Writing Center.
You have most likely heard about Firefly Music Festival if you’re anywhere near the Delaware area. It’s a great weekend to see live performances from your favorite artists, go camping, dress up and jam with friends! With Firefly Music Festival quickly approaching, lets reflect on how the festival got started here in the woodlands of Dover, Delaware. This year the headliners are: Billie Eilish, The Killers, Tame Impala, and Lizzo.
The first Firefly Festival was held July 20-22nd, 2012. The headliners were Jack White, The Killers, and The Black Keys. Firefly is now produced by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which also produces Coachella Music Festival. Additionally notable acts included John Legend, The Flaming Lips, and Modest Mouse. In past years, the festival has included many different stages including The Firefly Stage, The Porch Stage, The Lawn Stage, The Backyard Stage, and more! The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s 2021 festival will be held September 23rd-26th.
In 2015, the festival director Greg Bostrom explained the festival name. “We went out searching for a place that name could fit. It just so happens we found that place in The Woodlands. We knew we wanted to be on the East Coast,” Bostrom said. “We didn’t know a lot about Dover, Delaware. But when we saw the site and met the staff, we fell in love. Then we went back and looked at a map and said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is within two and a half hours of 10 percent of the US population.’ So, it’s a really good location for a destination festival.”
Firefly Music Festival Headlining Acts Through the Years…
The following are previous headliners throughout the years:
- 2012: Jack White, The Killers, The Black Keys
- 2013: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
- 2014: Outkast, Foo Fighters, and Jack Johnson
- 2015: Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon and The Killers.
- 2016: Mumford & Sons, Kings of Leon, Florence and the Machine, and deadmau5.
- 2017: The Weeknd, Muse, Twenty One Pilots, Chance the Rapper and Bob Dylan
- 2018: Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers
- 2019: Panic! at the Disco, Travis Scott, and Post Malone
For more information on this year’s Firefly Music Festival, check out their website here.