Dover’s Firefly Festival spent 10 years putting on a show at The Woodlands, but after their 2022 edition, organizers needed “a year to recharge our lights,” promising a return in 2024. Yet, as festivals across the U.S. began to roll out their 2024 lineups, Firefly stayed quiet.
Firefly used to bring in a huge following; their four-day edition back in 2015 reached its height of 90,000 fans in attendance with a headlining performance from Paul McCartney. However, those numbers have since dwindled down, first in 2019 when the festival reduced to three days, and then in 2021 when the event was capped at 50,000 people following the COVID-19 pandemic. While organizers did not release attendance numbers for their 2022 event, it seemed clear that a change was near when the festival announced its 2023 hiatus.
| READ: Festivalgoers Speculate on Firefly’s Return to Delaware in 2024 |
Last year, the festival news and rumors account, Festive Owl, shared that it had received multiple questions regarding Firefly, and according to their source, “there is a ton up in the air.” The source also shared the following picture with the Festive Owl, noting “I’ll leave you with this.”
I’ve seen the messages, mentions etc re: #Firefly and whether I have any update on its return.
Well, I have a small (very small) nugget from my best Firefly source.
“There is a ton up in the air…but I’ll leave you with this. Image attached.”
That’s it. Interpret as you will. pic.twitter.com/Q6fSwtKl2D
— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) November 6, 2023
While The Woodlands was always known as Firefly’s domain, Phish revealed they’ll bring Montegreen, their 11th music festival, to the Dover venue this August. The four-day event will offer solely Phish music, with no single-day passes available. It’s unclear if Montegreen is supposed to be a replacement festival for Firefly fans or if Phish’s festival means that Firefly could take place earlier in the year across Labor Day Weekend.
Fans are still holding out hope for an announcement. While Bonnaroo, Oceans Calling, and Governor’s Ball have already revealed their lineups, it’s possible that organizers could drop some major news, as Firefly once released their September lineup as late as March 29 back in 2021.
The wiki says the 2021 year was announced in March. Can anyone confirm? – There could still be hope
byu/MYNAMESNOTMARK1851 inFireflyFestival
However, Firefly’s social media accounts have been completely quiet since 2022. Dover Motor Speedway, which leases the Firefly festival grounds to AEG, declined to comment on whether or not the festival would return in 2024 to Delaware Online/The News Journal. The publication also reached out to AEG, where a spokesperson said they were unavailable for comment.
Fans are already mourning the festival, feeling like they’ve been “ghosted.”
“Everyday my heart breaks more for this festival,” one fan wrote on the Firefly Festival subreddit, r/FireflyFestival. “Why lie to us and lead us on? Yall killed our spirits.”
On Instagram, fans have flooded the festivals last post — October 27, 2022 — with comments.
“Comeback please,” another fan wrote. “Any updates would be greatly appreciated cause like we have all been waiting very patiently and I’m losing hope.”
The dismay continued on Facebook, as fans beg for updates.
“So Firefly Music Festival, how is the “See you in 2024″ coming along?” one festivalgoer commented. “Been over a year without a peep from you. Would love to know if this festival still has a pulse or not.”
It seems more likely that a 2025 edition of the event will be announced. However, whether or not the festival is cancelled, fans just want one thing: answers.
