Firefly Arts Collective is an American non-profit organization that facilitates the annual New England regional burner festival 'Firefly'. Firefly is a regional event inspired by the annual

Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...

festival in Nevada. Firefly is held in Vermont typically during July 4 weekend. Most of the organizers and participants come from the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

metropolitan area and surrounding states including Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. Firefly is a camping event that celebrates art for art's sake and espouses a

gift economy A gift economy or gift culture is a system of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. Social norms and customs govern giving a gift in a gift culture; although there ...

where no vending, sales or barter are permitted. Visual and

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

artists from all over the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region and the East Coast create a temporary community for the weekend. Participants share a wide range of talents from sculpting, painting, music, theatre, and DJing, to alternative forms of expression such as games, performance art, and circus talents such as

aerial silks Aerial silks (also known as aerial contortion, aerial ribbons, aerial tissues, fabric, ribbon, or ''tissu'') is a type of performance in which one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a specialist fabric. The fabric may b ...

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

, and

fire spinning Fire performance is a group of performance arts or skills that involve the manipulation of fire. Fire performance typically involves equipment or other objects made with one or more wicks which are designed to sustain a large enough fla ...

. The event adheres to the ten principles of the Burning Man event in Nevada. Among these are the

Leave No Trace Leave No Trace, sometimes written as LNT, is a set of ethics promoting conservation of the outdoors. Originating in the mid-20th century, the concept started as a movement in the United States in response to ecological damage caused by wilderne ...

philosophy, an environmental policy whereby participants are obligated to remove every piece of refuse that they generate while at the event, taking it with them when they leave. The themes of radical self-expression and radical self-reliance are also borrowed from Burning Man. FireflyEffigy

In addition, the event is considered a "no spectators" event, meaning that all attendees are expected to actively participate in its creation, staffing, and general philosophy. According to the event's official website Firefly is, "A celebration of self-expression and community! Firefly is a participatory arts and music gathering in the woods of Vermont." The event is organized and run completely by

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

. On the last night of Firefly a giant wooden Firefly is burned. In 2006 the Firefly included

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

launched from its top.

Weather

Firefly is held at the end of Vermont's mud and rain season. The road leading to the current event site is a dirt road that can become unnavigable by average vehicles due to mud.

History

Firefly was started in 2003 by

burners. It was first held on NUHOC land in Shelburne, New Hampshire. Since 2009 it takes place in Vermont on a parcel of land owned by

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

writer and Vermont state assembly member

Kirk White Kirk White (born May 21, 1962) is an American neopagan author and politician. Prior to serving the Windsor-Addison district in the Vermont House of Representatives, he was founder and president of Cherry Hill Seminary. White's multidisciplinary ...

Ticketing

* Tickets for the 2003 event were $15.00 each. There were 175 tickets sold. * Tickets for the 2006 event were US$30.00 each, and were handled in one release of 350 tickets. When tickets were sold out a limited number of additional tickets were released. Members of music bands were also sold tickets outside of the initial release. * Tickets for 2007 were sold for US$35 each. They were sold in a release of 400 and a lottery of 100. * Tickets for 2008 were sold for US$40 each. They were sold in a release of 450 and then an additional 50 tickets were released. * Tickets for 2009 were sold for US$40 each. They were sold in a release of 150, 300, and then an additional 50 more were released. * Tickets for 2010 were sold for US$45 each. They were sold in three releases of 200. * Tickets for 2012 were sold for US$75 each. A lottery system distributed tickets to pre-registered ticket seekers. A waitlist allowed ticket holders to sell their tickets at face value to the next person on the waitlist. Each ticket was uniquely matched to an individual's ID. * Tickets for 2013 were sold for US$75 each. A similar lottery system was used again. 845 tickets were sold. * Tickets for 2014 were sold to 950 people. 821 attended. * Tickets for 2015 were sold to 835 people. 828 attended. * Tickets for 2016 were sold for US$85 each. Parking passes were sold for $20 per car to encourage carpooling. A lottery system was used again. 1050 tickets were sold. 922 attended. * Tickets for 2017 were sold for US$85 each. Parking passes were sold for $20 per car to encourage carpooling. A lottery system was used again. 1122 tickets were sold. 1030 attended. * Tickets for 2018 were sold for US$85 each. Parking passes were sold for $30 per car to encourage carpooling. A lottery system was used again. 1290 tickets were sold. 1210 attended. * In 2019, people paid what they were willing. Parking passes were $30 per car. A lottery system was used again, aiming for around 1300 participants.

References

External links

* {{Burning Man Burning Man