FIREFLY 2013 – The Good, The Better, and the Sleeping Outside

This past weekend 60,000 of my closest friends and I trekked to Dover, Delaware for FIREFLY MUSIC FESTIVAL. With a lineup of rock legends including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, along with headliners like Ellie Goulding, Dispatch, Foster the People, The Avett Brothers, and  Alabama Shakes, its no wonder tickets sold out so quickly.

Arriving at the campgrounds at 9am with happiness in our souls, dust in our eyes, the sound of beers popping and bad decisions brewing, we set up our tents and joined in on the party. Camping at Firefly was like a 5star hostile of sleeping outside, always covered in mud and wide eyed and drinking at 5am because the sun has started peeking out and its too hot to continue sleeping…but don’t worry us filthy hippies didn’t mind. OH and showers cost 5$. With their constant use, free shampoo, and only cold water they were fairly great during this hot weekend.

The festival contained watering holes such as Dogfish Head, The Vineyard, and the Jack Daniels tent. Nothing like living on a liquid diet with the occasional helping of dust and sweat to keep you hydrated for a weekend.

On a side note: for those of you parents who grew up going to music festivals then multiply and bring your infants to places like Firefly, you’re the reason social services exists. Leave your babies at home. When the girl to my left is eating shrooms, the person in front of me is guzzling liquor like its their last drink on earth and you’re to my left with your child, just don’t pretend to be surprised when I (and the rest of the festival) look at you like you’re everything that is wrong with the world.

NOW FOR THE MUSIC.  Red Hot Chili Peppers, I bow to thee. They were by far my favorite performance of the weekend and had everyone grinning from ear to ear, singing every word, ending with the begging of an on chore and getting it. Dispatch was well worth the hour wait in the scorching sun attempting to shrink in size as to not rub against the closest sweaty fireflyer. Their charism and raw talent takes my love of Indie music to a whole new level. The Avett Brothers‘ folksy high-energy was a fantastic follow up to Ellie Goulding‘s electo-pop charming vocals. I have a new found love for Crystal Fighters. This band had every Fireflyer tapping their feet, jumping, and diving head first into Sebastian Pringle’s loveable energy. Their musical fusion defies labels and categorization. Take a listen! http://www.youtube.com/crystalfighters Proven multiple times at the festival, sometimes people just have to go Petey Pablo and take your shirt off,  twist it around your head then spin it like a helicopter, its only appropriate.

With my dad and brother being Marines, my sister a nurse, and my insanely clean, queen of worrying mama, the family had no problem sharing their extreme lack of enthusiasm about the festival. But with 22 years of accepting me and my safe arrival home with morals still in tact they still love me just the same. Firefly is phenomenal, exhausting, and not for anyone with a heart condition or claustrophobia. These glorious three days came and went, you made choices, you stuck by them, and if you have any regrets at the end, you didn’t do it right. If you ever have the chance, buy a ticket, leave your judgement and need for food at home and GO.

xx Diana
Happy Wandering