Firefly offers 90,000 fans four days of unique experiences

From left, Firefly Music Festival fashionistas from Connecticut Gloriana Restrepo, Victoria Dortenzio, Claire O' Brien and Emily Bean said skin was in at the festival this year.

Kristin Eberts of Colombus, OH had plenty of custom-made Teysha shoes for sale at Firefly Saturday.

Grassroots California manager Michael Kriz of Boulder, CO, left, points out some of the latest fashions he has for sale at Firefly this weekend.

Natasha Ulrich of Point Pleasnat, NJ tries on a pair of cool wooden sunglasses as she browses through the many vendors at Firefly offering a variety of clothing and other fashion accessories.

Rene and Bill McPoyle of Magnolia walk into Firefly Saturday with joy and music in their hearts ready to enjoy another day at the festival.

Fuzzy Mass of Dover dances on the lawn in front of the Backyard Stage Saturday afternoon enjoying the tunes at the 4th annual Firefly Music Festival.

Alyssa Konsko, 18 of Allentown, PA relaxes on a bed of Firefly Saturday.

Allentown, PA residents Alex Murano, 21, left, and Alex Wendt, 21 carry Samantha Fruhwirth, 22, left and her sister Alex Fruhwirth, 20 into the front gates of Firefly Saturday in Dover.

Blue-haired Jo Jo Sosa of Fort Collins, CO wore custom-made temporary tattoos on her face and body Saturday at Firefly.

Carolyne Ferreira, 21 and sister Amanda, 19 of Frederick, MD dance to the music at The Wodlands Saturday as they enjoy their weekend at the 4th annual Firefly Music Festival.

Austin, TX singer-songwriter Joe Pug performs Saturday on the Lawn Stage.

From left, Cari Berkowitz of Philadelphia, Amanda Bloom of Baltimore, Colleen Creamer of Philadelphia and Bonnie McGuire of Boulder, CO, pose for a photo in front of the giant Firefly sign.

Members of the Australian group Intergalactix perform Saturday

Firefly fan Aarika Webb of Dover was ready to enjoy a day of fun, music and friends.

Even security guards like Quintina Cooper of Washington, D.C. can't help dancing to the music at The Woodlands this weekend.

Gov. Jack Markell ran down a short list of musical acts he hopes to see this weekend at Firefly including Modest Mouse, Morrisey, Paul McCartney and Spoon during a press conference at Firefly Friday.

White paper egrets hang over a walkway at Firefly Friday afternoon

Knox Hamilton perform Friday on the Lawn stage

The crowd at one of Friday's Firefly concerts jammed up tight along the photo pit wall.

Wild Party perfoms to applause and cheers from the crowd

The Hunts of Chesapeake, VA perform on the Lawn stage Friday afternoon.

From left, Firefly Music Festival fans Madeline DoNatto, 18, Natalie Bock, 17 and Lucy Mernit, 17 all of Baltimore, MD try to navigate their way across a muddy pathway Friday

Liam Ridings, 18 of York, PA obliviously walks across a soaking wet mud path while on his smartphone.

The recent rain storms have left the grounds at Firefly Music Festival very muddy indeed.

Tom Flinn of Milford relaxes Friday afternoon ready to see one of his musical idols Paul McCartney Friday at Firefly.

Beatles fan Kyle Guzman and Caroline Cardoso, both 19 of East Windsor, NJ, were very excited to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert Friday.

Firefly Music Festival goers react to one of the bands performing on the stages at The Woodlands Friday

Edmund Kingham, 17, and Molly Brenner, 18, both of Danbury, CT, perform a Firefly dance Friday as the enjoy the tunes in the Woodlands.

Michael Natrin and Erin Magnin of Newark cheer on local band Fiance'

20dsn Firefly Friday 004 press conf

Happy to see his Dover friends again, Firefly Music Festival Director Greg Bostrom remarked that Firefly being back was like a big family reunion in the capital of the First State during a Friday press conference at The Woodlands

From right, Marco Dunlap of Newark jokes around with pals Tony Drew of Austin, TX and Marcus Potter of Lafayette, LA.

Nick Wilson, 19 and Emily Taylor, 18, both of Bel Air, MD live the hippie dream lifestyle Friday at Firefly.

From left, Hanging in the Hammock Hangout, Maleeha Ain, Matt Crooks and Lily Hamilton, all 18 of Leesburg, VA, relax in the woods near Dover International Speedway Friday.

Newark-based group Fiance' performs on the Forest stage Friday

Daniel Rottenborn hugs his girlfriend Ella Gambell, both of Yardley, PA, far right, as they wait for the gates to open Thursday evening during the first night of the 4th annual Firefly Music Festival

Firefly concert goers applaud Thursday evening during the set of the first band to play the music festival Cypher Clique, a local Dover based hip-hop group

Dover based hip hop group Cypher Clique featuring Jamal "Relay" James was the first group to perform Thursday evening at Firefly

Andrew Kolakowski of Clayton brought his wife Kelly, sons Roman, 15, and Zarek 11 and daughter Juilana, 15 to their annual musical Firefly pilgrimage

Young Rising Sun members perform on the Lawn Stage

From left, Firefly fans Holly Stevens of Newark, Haily Fontana of Newark, Kaitlin Haras of Wilmington, Jaida Barnes of Newark and Hanna Grabowski of Newark

Campbell King of Richmond, VA searches for friends amongst thousands of Firefly fans Thursday lined up waiting for the main gates to open.

Johanna Marie Matic of Dover, NJ does a roadside dance Thursday ready for the festival to begin.

Pat Clark of Mineola, NY and his pals use a selfie stick and take photos of themselves walking past The Monster Mile towards The Woodlands for the 4th annual Firefly Music Festival.

Macky Trabaudo of Clayton was one of many local people enjoying the Firefly Music Festival Thursday.

Elijah Cruise and Olivia Perdomo of Knoxville, TN entertain themselves Thursday afternoon with a beach ball as they wait in line along Persimmon Tree Road with thousands of other Firefly Music Festival fans.

Firefly fans go berserk as the main gates open at 5pm

Hundreds of Firefly Music Festival fans rush through the main gates Thursday evening at 5pm ready for their fun-filled weekend to begin.

From left, Firefly Music Festival attendees Rhonda Webb of Cleveland, OH; Danny Reardon of Cleveland, Shawn White of Cleveland; Dave Butler and Amy Coyle of Baltimore, MD and Buddy Reardon of Cleveland have an impromptu jam session at their campsite at The Woodlands Wednesday evening.

Tents for Firefly campers sit in a field in The Woodlands

From left, Tyler Lozzi, Tyler Shimkus, Kyle McKane and Katie Ernest of Binghampton, NY play a drinking game with playing cards and ice cold beer after arriving in Dover.

The campgrounds at The Woodlands were active Wednesday evening with campers starting to arrive in Dover for this weekend's Firefly Music Festival.

Rob Hilgefort of Park Hills, KY, right, and Don Honaker of Lexington, KY, walk around the Firefly Music Festival campgrounds with a GoPro camera filming campers.

With their camper, giant American flag and bicycle, 4-year Firefly Music Festival veteran Ryland Shattuck of Hockessin, his girlfriend Shannon Collins and his brother henry Shattuck, 15, were ready to take on the 4-day festival Wednesday evening.

Firefly fan Chris Harris of Smyrna topples the wooden tower during he and his fellow music festival campers' game of Giant Jenga.

Lauren Thompson of Finksburg, MD plays a round of ladderball at her Firefly campsite Wednesday evening.

Kent County Dept. of Public Safety asst. director of Public Safety/EMS Cindy Grygo of Hartly stands insie a trailer on the Firefly Music Festival grounds next to bags of paramedic equipment Wednesday.

Hartly Fire Company members Rob Barnes, left, and Greg Murray pull out their state-of-the-art stretcher from their ambulance at The Woodlands ready for any Firefly injuries.

Good News Natural Foods co-owners Marcia and Richard Collins of Milford hold a basket of fresh produce Thursday in their Governors Avenue store. The couple, longtime Beatles fans, were overjoyed to supply Sir Paul McCartney with 1,100 pounds of all organic produce for his entourage of 65 people to enjoy during the Firefly Music Festival.

A group of Firefly Music Festival party animals drives past Persimmon Tree Apartments Thursday morning on a golf cart.

The traffic was baked up along Persimmon Tree Road in front of Persimmon Tree Apartments Thursday morning with early Firefly attendees arriving being stopped at various security checkpoints.

Dawne Nickerson-Banez, owner of Frankfurt Bakery and Deli along Governors Avenue will be baking cupcakes for Friday's artist catering at Firefly Music Festival.

DOVER — Firefly 2015 will be remembered for many things: for Paul McCartney, for the largest crowd yet, for the mud that resulted in lost shoes.

For many of the 90,000 people in attendance, it has been an unforgettable weekend, a time of unique experiences.

Disparate groups of people are joined together by music as tens of thousands flock to Dover, helping put the tiny city on the map nationally, at least for a weekend.

There was much to be glad about — but as always, not everything can be controlled or planned for.

Mud, mud, mud

In 2014, it was dust. In 2015, it was mud.

The rain on Thursday flooded some tents and led to a muddy mess across The Woodlands over the next two days. People struggled to keep their balance — and their footwear.

Shoes and sandals were abandoned, sacrificed to the unforgiving mud. The Pathway, the small clearing between trees leading to the main area in the back, was particularly problematic, with several shoes left sitting in the mud.

Jacob Roberts, of Sterling, Virginia, preferred the dust that plagued festivalgoers in 2014 to this year’s mud. Organizers should have prepared better by putting down sand, he said.

But while the mud vexed a number of fans, others did not mind.

“We planned ahead,” said Lindsay Dixon, of Savage, Maryland. “We brought crappy shoes that we could destroy.”

Ms. Dixon said she had seen individual shoes sitting in the mud and speculated with a laugh that the owners had continued on walking with only a single shoe.

Parker Strand, of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, said the ground made it challenging to walk around in some areas, but “if you don’t mind getting dirty, it’s not a big deal.”

By Saturday afternoon, some of the muddy areas had dried up, a result of the heat. However, with rain possible today, the last day of Firefly 2015 could be a scene of slick, dirty disarray for the fans remaining.

Water

While many fans were thankful for the drier weather Friday and much of Saturday, some were still left wishing there was more water. Only, they were thinking of drinkable water.

According to Ms. Dixon, a refilling station for fans with water bottles was not working.

“Well, we went to go fill up at one of the three stations they had and it was completely shut down,” she said. “They just said it was broken.”

She expressed concern for the many attendees who, due to alcohol, drugs and the heat, needed to stay hydrated or risk passing out or becoming sick.

”Everyone needs water but especially these dumb kids,” she said.

Texting, browsing and selfie-taking — oh my!

With nearly 100,000 people packed in tight in what is normally a forest clearing, cell phone service is hard to come by at times.

In that respect, Firefly can be almost like a separate world, one cut off from civilization.

Texts are frequently returned with the frustrating message that they could not be delivered. Internet slows to a crawl. People checking their phones all too often see the dreaded 1x instead of 3G, an indication the signal is weak.

That can happen in extremely rural areas or in places where large crowds are packed in. With the network overloaded, sending a simple “hi” to a friend can become very difficult.

It’s not unique to Firefly — the same thing can happen at sporting events or other sites where thousands upon thousands of cell phone users are present.

Sheldon Jones, Verizon Wireless’ public relations manager for the Philadelphia region, said Verizon brought in two trucks known as “cell sites on wheels,” with staffers monitoring them 24/7.

According to Mr. Jones, Verizon handled more than 1 million connections on the 4G LTE, a result of fans using social media, taking photos and browsing the web.

“The bottom line is that we’re always looking to stay ahead of the expected usage demands, and — like the great artists performing at the concert — we make sure our ‘instruments’ (wireless network assets) are finely tuned to provide our customers with a great service experience,” he said.

AT&T also set up temporary service providers, according to festival organizers.

But even the best efforts of organizers and providers could not overcome all the challenges. Several attendees reported service that was shaky at best, cutting in and out.

Friday night by the main stage, with thousands upon thousands of fans gathered in to watch Paul McCartney, at least one attendee with Verizon was unable to browse the Internet and send texts due to poor service.

The next day, Ms. Dixon observed she was unable to tweet, and Mr. Strand said he had difficulties sending text messages to friends at the festival.

Firefly did have some designated Wi-Fi areas, and Mr. Roberts noted he was able to use his phone in certain spots on the grounds.

Columbus, Ohio, native Michael Babyak said while he did not have a strong signal, he was able to send messages.

Mr. Strand praised the Firefly app, which provided users with a portable map, a schedule of the performers and other details.

While he enjoyed himself and said he plans to make a second trip come next June 2016, he has a change in mind.

“I don’t know how they can fix cell phone reception but definitely that,” Mr. Strand said, when asked how organizers could improve the experience.

Camping

With the rain becoming an unwelcome visitor Thursday night, some fans reported issues with camping. Social media told stories of tents quickly filling up with water and mud, with photographs providing proof.

At the festival with Mr. Babyak, Amber Harris, of Columbus, Ohio, said she was disappointed in the campgrounds.

“They’re just really unorganized,” she said. “We got here and they’re just like, ‘Go find a place, good luck, it’s packed.’”

Let them eat cake

Firefly is keeping Dover baker Tiffanee Lee-Scott busy rattling pans in her shop at 147 S. Governors Ave. Ms. Lee-Scott said caterer Andrew Cohen contacted her to order cakes from her Tiffanee & Co. Bakery.

The order includes 10 cakes for Steve Aoki, who performs at midnight tonight on the Backyard Stage.

“Some will be decorated with inspiration from his clothing line, while others will be decorated with his face,” she said via email Friday night. “They’ll all differ in some way.”

Ms. Lee-Scott, who opened her bakery less than a year ago, is excited for the opportunity. “I think it’s great to let the community know that … small businesses can step up to the plate for wonderful events of this magnitude.”