After the rain and mud last year, The Woodlands in Dover, Del., finally had perfect weather for Firefly Music Festival weekend.
Premiere campers caught a bit of a storm Wednesday, and those arriving early Thursday experienced a short-lived downpour, but it cleared up just in time for the music.
The view of our general admission campsite from my tent at Firefly, on Thursday, June 16, 2016
This year, because I was at my internship with WBOC and DelmarvaLife until the afternoon on Thursday, my camping crew had to set up without me. They had an early start, meeting at 4:30 am Thursday morning to caravan up to The Woodlands. When I arrived a few hours later, after struggling to find where overnight parking is, I found out we might have the best spot in the place.
Being right by the tree line and putting our canopies next to each other created shade all day long. I felt spoiled with this set up after coming back from Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee last weekend, where festival goers had to chase the shade all day to stay cool.
We explored our new home for the weekend and quickly fell into a routine; wake up, shower, eat and change, play games like bean bag toss and slap cup, then we would usually head into the festival around 5 p.m.
Because of the shade, our tents didn’t get as hot as they have in years passed so we were able to sleep in until around 10 am. Each day I woke up to booming music from The Hub across the street and the loud chatter among my friends and neighbors.
Showering is always my first move in the morning at any festival. We brought a solar shower and filled it up at The Hub, but the water pressure was really awful so it took a while, and a lot of strength to hold the faucet open. If you get up early enough to beat the lines, I recommend the $5.00 showers the festival provides.
The Hub offered a little getaway from our campsite. There were plenty food venders, shade and picnic tables, and The Bud Light Party brought fun games to play with friends.
Once we were in the festival each day, I went straight to the water fill up stations, which were great, but I wish there were more, and were easier to spot. Everything had a white roof, so it was hard to pick them out.
On the bright side, organizers put in gravel instead of mulch on the wooded paths this year, so no more mud and puddles!
I hate to miss any of the music, so I usually go to back-to-back shows, but some of my friends would go back to the campsite to regroup throughout the night. After we all wandered back to the site, we would hang out and talk for a few, then eventually throw some earplugs in and crawl into our tents for the night.
Any off time I had in the festival I spent wandering around the grounds, seeing what’s changed since last year, and re-experiencing some old favorites like the Hammock Hangout and revamped Beercade.
Now we’re saying goodbye to our neighbors, and I really need to help everyone pack this place up. Until next year Firefly!
