This past summer, a friend from home and I attended our first music festival: Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware. We have been to countless concerts together: Bleachers, The 1975, One Republic, and many more. After hearing the line-up for Firefly this year would consist of our favorite artists like The Weeknd and TwentyOne Pilots, we couldn’t wait to buy our tickets and camping passes. My expectations were based off of what I knew about Cochella, but Firefly ended up being completely different. Here are 5 things I learned at Firefly that I will be sure to remember the next time I go to a festival, and I hope they help you out too!
1. You are destined to meet interesting and friendly people
Whether it was on the campgrounds or in the festival, I made friends everywhere I went. People at Firefly were from all over the world- I met a pair of friends who were on holiday from Australia! I even keep in touch with a friend who camped next to our tent. Because everybody is happy at concerts, people tend to be very accepting. If you want to scream and dance to your favorite EDM performer, you will not be judged.
2. Stay off your phone
We have all heard the cliché “live in the moment,” but it’s a valuable lesson I learned for two reasons. Number one: you want to save your phone battery for emergencies! My phone battery drained very fast because there is no service in the woodlands of Dover. There were a couple of times I got separated from my friend, and without my phone I would never have been able to find her. Number two: you don’t want to view the concert from your phone. Pictures are okay to take, but watching the band perform through the screen isn’t nearly as impactful or fun as watching the band perform live (which you don’t have the opportunity to to very often). Also, you don’t want to be that person who blocks everyone’s view so you can record the entire show.
3. Keep track of your valuables
On the 3rd day of the festival (Saturday), my friend and I got carried away with socializing with other campers and the festival. As we were walking back to our tent at 1:00 in the morning, we realized that we didn’t have the most important thing: the car keys. Because we heard that people had been going through tents, we put all our clothes and food in the car. We had to wait until the next morning for AAA to unlock the car (accompanied by a very loud car alarm that went off whenever we opened the door). After going to lost and found and checking every place we had been that night, we eventually found the keys at a friend’s campsite. The moral of this story is to make sure you have your phone, keys, and wallet on you at all times by keeping a purse or fanny pack!
4. Stay Hydrated
Every day in Dover, the humidity was over 90%. Waking up dying of thirst was normal. Especially being in the super-hot crowds during the shows, the heat consumed me. People even ended up passing out from heat exhaustion over the weekend. Water bottles are an absolute necessity. And the best part is, all around the campsite and in the festival, there were water refill stations.
5. Glitter is a way of life
Before the concert, my friend bought a ton of glitter from the craft store. It was the best investment she made for Firefly. Every day, we would go a bit overboard on the glitter, especially before we saw Ke$ha. But it didn’t matter because it was so much fun! We also gave other girls around our campsite glitter. It was the best way to bond with new friends.
Overall, my experience at Firefly was one I will never forget. Now my friend and I are onto our next big adventure: Bonnaroo!