Good evening,
It didn’t come as much of a surprise when the Firefly Music Festival confirmed on its website that it would not return in 2024.
Fans were left with a vague message saying that it could return if the timing is right while noting that other music fests will be held. It appeared to be a reference to the August Mondegreen Festival from popular Vermont band Phish.
The latest news came after festival owner AEG indicated the event was taking a break in 2023.
The usual buzz has been missing and there had been no hints that acts were being wooed for the festival at the sprawling Dover site of the state’s once-a-year NASCAR weekend. The second race moved to greener (concrete) pastures outside Nashville a few years ago as the previous owner took down half of the Dover grandstands, thanks to a long-running attendance plunge.
The Monster Mile is now owned by one of the two mega track operators on the NASCAR circuit after Rollins’ family interests finally cashed out.
It is also true that rock-based music festivals, except few mainstays like Coachella in California and Tennessee’s Bonnaro, have a shelf life.
Signs pointed in that direction rumored major improvements to the Woodlands site were scaled back or perhaps eliminated. Like most things from Firefly operators, details were few.
Firefly became a “thing” back in 2012 when Redfrog Events came up with the idea of a festival with camping options and drew large crowds.
Its peak years featured well-known acts that included the Foo Fighters, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney.
The event was later taken over by industry giant AEG, the organizer of Coachella, and seemed to lose its mojo.. Niche acts with strong followings were not enough to reverse changes in the music business and demographics of its core audience.
The last Firefly did feature well-known performers that included Green Day and Dua Lipa.
Firefly faced other challenges, including weather. Other than heat, Coachella does not have to deal with thunderstorms.
Covid-19, inflation and a desire to spend money on travel and other things might have dealt the final blow. Even Coachella is reportedly seeing sluggish ticket sales in 2024 for its final weekend.
In the end, Firefly seemed to have something in common with its namesake – a short lifespan and shrinking numbers that will leave us with fewer magical nights in our Delaware backyard. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
