This is not the commercial Firefly Music Festival in Delaware. Firefly is a multi-day experiential arts event that happens in the woods of Vermont around the 4th of July, inspired by the Ten Principles of Burning Man. We are a community of makers and free thinkers putting on a DIY experiential art celebration.
Firefly’s mission is to foster a collaborative environment and community for participatory arts. We encourage people to express their creativity and challenge them to extend their concept of both community and art.
The Ten Principles
The Ten Principles are ways of living in a different, experimental way during the event, that may give us insights about how we want to live.
Some are about participation and self-expression — everyone has something they can to to contribute. There are no spectators here; we are all making the party happen.
Some are about decommodification and gifting — a way to take a break from the commercialized outside world’s money economy and escape into an experiment in abundance, where everyone brings something to give away freely. Even a performance or interaction is a gift in our gifting economy.
We are a Leave No Trace event. We leave the land as we found it and everyone packs out their own trash. This is not only being a good neighbor, it’s an exercise in mindfulness and responsibility.
Participation
Volunteering
There are no paid staff putting on Firefly. We’re all volunteers, and having a community chipping in is what makes it all happen. YOU are Firefly! We think that can be more immediate and fun than going to a big commercial event where everything’s done for us. There are lots of ways to get involved.
Helping others during the event is a great way to build community and feel like part of something. Offer to help your neighbor set up their tent, or carry their stuff, or set up for their party. Give water to others when it’s hot out. At loose ends? The Gnomes will know who needs help.
Art
Art is not just painting and sculpture. YOU are capable of doing art! Your radical self-expression can be an interaction, or a costume, or an installation in the trees with blinky lights, or a party. Art is whatever amuses, enchants, excites, or makes others feel something. Put up signs, sit in an advice booth, tell fortunes, wear a funny hat, play music, make a beaver den (that one’s been done).
Musicians: Many Theme Camps have DJ lineups, and there is an Open Stage that can be pre-booked for acoustic music and performance. Bring your music!
If you want to be part of a larger art project, consider joining or working with a Theme Camp. Helping out on a project, large or small, is a great way to meet new people and learn new things. Join some of our online or in-person meetup venues below and ask around to see what people are doing!
Connecting Before the Event
We have regular meetups in at the Cambridge Brewing Company in Cambridge, MA Tuesday nights from 8:30 till late.
There is a lower-traffic Announce mailing list just for official announcements, and a higher-traffic discussion list (Firefly Blink).
Online, the community Facebook Group is a good place to ask questions and meet people, and our official Facebook Page will have the news and announcements.
Code of Conduct
Our community expects everyone to help others feel welcome, rather than unsafe or excluded. Sexual harassment or sexual violence are not welcome at Firefly, and we expect participants to communicate about consent and respect each others’ boundaries. If problems arise, there are resources: Rangers are volunteers who are there to help, and Sanctuary is a place where you can go to de-stress or talk to someone. If you behave in a way that endangers others or the event that can be cause for immediate ejection.