Firefly Festival Kicks Off the Summer
After four fully packed days of music and dancing at the Dover International Speedway, the eighth annual Firefly Festival came to a close on Sunday, June 23rd. With over 50,000 people in attendance throughout the weekend, the atmosphere was filled with the electricity of the crowd’s excitement for the musical performances. The lineup consisted of a variety of artists who helped usher in the beginning of the summer season. If you did not get a chance to attend the music festival this year, we’ve covered the main highlights of the weekend.
Firefly is a spectacular event that kicks off the summer with a variety of notable artist performances. Friday, June 21st marked the first day of Firefly Festival with TLC performing their iconic hit Waterfalls on the main stage. X Ambassadors returned to the festival for their third year, drawing in large crowds to the Lawn Stage. The audience was moved by their setlist as they sang along to the bands’ recent collaboration song Confidence ,underneath the night stars. Old favorites such as Unsteady and Low Life earned many cheers from the crowd, and frontman Sam Harris showed his support to the LGBTQIA community by yelling “It’s Pride Month, baby!” before kicking off their most famous track Renegades. Panic! At the Disco closed out Friday night with their comeback on the main stage after a two month hiatus. Lead singer Brendon Urie also recognized Pride Month with the band’s performance of Girls/Girls/Boys and paid tribute to the iconic Freddie Mercury with a cover of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. To top off the night, the band sang their newest hit High Hopes, looking utterly dumbfounded by the intense energy of the crowd. They broke out into smiles as the confetti cannons went off, ending the night on a high note.
Panic! At The Disco
The second day of Firefly Festival proved to be just as successful as the first with New York City singer Max surprising fans by bringing out collaborator Quin XCII to give a lively performance of Love Me Less. The singer ended his set with a heartfelt message to the LGBTQIA community, saying, “Love is what we preach every night, whether you are gay, straight, bisexual, transgender” before moving the crowd with a performance of Lights Down Low. Alec Benjamin took the stage later in the event, singing Let Me Down Slowly, The Boy in the Bubble, and treating the audience to a live debut of his most recent release Must Have Been the Wind. To end the night, alternative rock artist Young the Giant entertained the festival goers with performances of Cough Syrup, My Body, Something to Believe In, and cuts from their 2018 album Mirror Master .
Photos by Jenny Banes-Kevit. Follow her on Instagram @jennayybk
On the last day of Firefly Festival, Lovelytheband drew in a large crowd with their main stage set, as they had their fans dancing to their upbeat tracks like These Are My Friends, Broken, and their Dillon Francis collaboration, Change Your Mind. Post Malone was another notable presence at the event, hyping up the crowd with his hits such as Congratulations. The last notable act of the night was Vampire Weekend, thrilling the audience with songs from all of their studio albums. Their set was decorated with a giant 3D globe behind the band as they energized the crowd with performances of Oxford Comma, Ya Hey, and songs from their most recent release Father of the Bride. Overall, Vampire Weekend ended the event on a high note and wrapped up another successful Firefly Festival event.
Firefly Festival never fails to start the summer season on a high note as the heat of the season encourages the crowd to be more energetic for the performances. With each year’s lineup being as exciting as the last, we can only have high hopes for Firefly Festival 2020. We highly recommend you grab tickets for next year’s event when they go on sale. This is an electrifying event that you just can’t miss!
Listen to this playlist to hear all the people that performed at Firefly Music Festival 2019.
