What’s it like to experience Firefly Music Festival?
You walk into the festival with thousands of people all moving in the same direction. When you enter the turnstiles, you see people shuffling around some are going to the left and others to to the right. You walk straight. You pass a slew of food options including pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers, falafel and gyro, Hawaiin noodles and more. You pass concession after concession of cold beer.
There are seven different stages — Lawn, Backyard, Pavilion, Coffee House, Firefly Stage (main stage), Treehouse, Porch, Forest and Thicket. Most have acts going on concurrently. You get a schedule but you also download the app. The app tells you when and where the artists will be appearing. You make a note to yourself where you want to go before you enter the turnstiles but when you get inside, everything changes. You’re hot. The sweat is dripping off your face, down your back and down your legs. You wipe it off with a napkin that you picked up from one of the food vendors but the pearls of sweat keep coming back.
The h
eat makes you tired. Do you really want to go from the main stage to the Backyard? It seems like miles away. Now, you decide to readjust your schedule so that you see things that are close in proximity. You want to spend as little energy as possible.
If you went VIP, there’s free water. If you go General Admission, you have to pay $4 for a bottle of water. Sometimes the water is cold and sometimes it’s air temperature (which is warm). You ask yourself if it pays to buy the water for $4 or just get a cold beer for $7.
There are plenty of drinking choices, especially hard liquor. Beer and wine is also plentiful. The wine sponsor, Cupcakes, has a tasting booth where you can sample wines and then buy at the food court. Jack Daniels is there again as a sponsor and Jack and Ginger is the drink of choice among many of the festival attendees.
After watching a couple of bands in the blaring sun, you decide it’s time to eat. Most of your choices are fried foods. There are little or no healthy choices. You just grin and bear it. You are there to hear amazing music, not to eat. At the VIP section, there are some other choices on food trucks, which aren’t bad but noth
ing to write home about either.
Everywhere you walk, there is mud. It rained on Wednesday or possibly Thursday morning and there is mud, sometimes very deep, wherever you walk. You watch as some people get stuck in the mud. You laugh. You don’t want to, but it is really funny. So you look away and laugh.
What’s great about the music is that there is a variety of Alternative/Indie Rock bands playing, along with rap and soul artists to country and EDM (Electric Dance Music).
The day is long. You get there at 12, 1 or 2 pm to catch the first show. As the day goes on, you’re tired from standing and you’re tired from the heat. You’re standing all day long. You can’t really sit because there is too much mud. At times, you don’t care. You sit anyway. If you are lucky enough to go VIP, there are some scattered chairs and tables you can sit at. You can also go inside little built structures that is air conditioned. If you go there, there are pretzels and candy set out. But before you go to get some pretzels a young 
woman grabs the entire bowl and brings to her friends. You sit and just enjoy the coolness.
You see a bunch more shows before the end of the day. By the time the last show goes on, you saw nearly 10 shows. You’re beat. You’re worn out and you’re hot and tired. You’ve walked 8 to 12 miles a day. But, you’re also happy because you heard some amazing music.
Is FireFly Music Festival worth it?
You bet. But it is definitely a test of endurance and not for everyone. If you love music, especially Alternative/Indie music, you will love this festival and everything else won’t matter.
