- Announce - lists.fireflyartscollective.org

Land Search Factors Explainer and FAQ
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 05 Dec '25

05 Dec '25

Land Search Factors Explainer and FAQ First off, thanks to all the folks who have been providing us with rather thoughtful suggestions and questions over the past few months regarding Firefly’s future! And a double thanks to those who have volunteered to help out in various ways, including writing up the documents linked in this announcement! One of the more novel parts of this year’s post-event survey <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-Surve…> was a set of hypotheticals on different aspects of land. We recognize that we didn’t do a good job explaining the purpose or meaning of these questions back when the survey first went out, so we put together an explainer that walks through the results of that part of the survey, looks at how the Bethel site matches up to those results (tldr: pretty good!), and lays out some other factors that are important for a successful Firefly. You can see that document here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NxYAIqX7RMT2hfsBi62UQjM2c90JaVAp1e6XPrZ…> . We also compiled responses to some of the more common questions we have gotten regarding the survey and the land search effort. Some of these were already addressed in previous announcements but we thought it helpful to have them all in one place in addition to addressing newer questions. We plan on continuing to update this document as more questions come up, so if you have any yourself, please send them to venue(a)lists.fireflyartscollective.org. You can see that FAQ here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NxYAIqX7RMT2hfsBi62UQjM2c90JaVAp1e6XPrZ…> . We appreciate all the volunteers who make Firefly happen and in particular those who volunteer during the offseason. Firefly wouldn’t happen without you!

1 0

Firefly Survey Results and Site Search Update
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 22 Nov '25

22 Nov '25

*Firefly Site Search Update & Results of 2025 Post-Event Survey are in.* *Hear what the community is saying, and be part of making Firefly's future.* • *The survey results are posted **here* <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-Surve…>*.* • *We’re visiting possible sites for future expansion, as announced in July <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/news/regarding-survey-and-new-site-se…>. <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/news/regarding-survey-and-new-site-se…> (No decision has been made for 2026)* • *Get involved, visit land, or suggest sites by emailing **venue(a)fireflyartscollective.org* • *December Board Office Hours are especially for questions about site search. In-person and virtual times are below.* *Firefly Post-Event Survey Results* The _Firefly 2025 Post-Event Survey has been posted_ <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-Surve…>! More than 600 Fireflies provided feedback on their experiences in the woods this year, as well as information on what parts of camping terrain and facilities are seen as most important. Spoiler alert: new porto placement was a huge success! Take a look and see what other predictions you’ve made were accurate. Additional analysis of these results will be shared as part of future activities. Site Search Update Thanks to everyone for providing their input on what aspects of the Firefly site they value! _As discussed around the time the survey went out_ <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/news/regarding-survey-and-new-site-se…>, Firefly is conducting a search for potential sites which could provide the best possibilities for the community over the next ten years of the Firefly summer festival, considering both continued development in Bethel and moving to a new location. Our intent is to evaluate all sites in light of community feedback, to capture the knowledge of our long-time event production volunteers about growth constraints and stress points, and to have options when conflicts with authorities, neighbors, or landowners arise, as happened in 2025. Your survey responses from July are informing the search. Firefly has outgrown three previous sites, and expanded several times within the Bethel site. While all locations will have different constraints, continued flourishing of our event and evolving community implies that the largest Firefly event will eventually occur somewhere where event-production limitations are different: easier gear and personal accessibility, better parking and traffic flow, reduced maintenance expenses, improved inclement-weather resiliency, and space for new groups and camps to join the event core. When and how this change happens remains an open discussion. Over the past few months, a group of Firefly volunteers have reached out to numerous potential locations across New England and conducted several initial site visits. As we identify the most promising possible locations over the coming weeks we will continue to offer expanded visit invitations across the Planning Team (Event, Cluster, and Core Leads) and also Camp Leads to provide feedback on candidate sites. *To be clear, no decision regarding the site of the 2026 event, be it in Bethel or elsewhere, has been made.* The long planning timeline for an event like Firefly requires us to start explorations in July and this will continue throughout the year*.* Our timeline and contractual requirements mandate that we finalize our decision by the end of January, so expect further discussion between now and then. If you’re not already involved and are interested in participating in the site search process – particularly if you have suggestions on locations we may not have considered – please mail the Site Search Team at _venue(a)fireflyartscollective.org_! Reminder on Firefly Board Office Hours Prior to Firefly 2025 we heard from community members that they wanted a forum to discuss their questions and concerns on our mission, goals, community, and event planning. During the event we hosted a series of Board Office Hours - opportunities for members of the community to come up and talk to us about whatever is on their mind. Obviously many of y’all were busy… well… attending Firefly, so we opened up those office hours year-round for both in-person and virtual participation. We haven’t had very many questions over the past few months, so we wanted to specifically earmark the upcoming December office hours for any questions on the site search process. If you’d like to discuss this, please try to attend – and if you’re not able to make it, send us a note and we’ll schedule a special time to have an additional online discussion. The next In-Person Office Hours will take place on the first Tuesday of every other month and are co-located with the first hour of the Greet+Meet at _Remnant Brewing_ <https://maps.app.goo.gl/TXzPEWMbrhM6XsRdA> in Somerville (i.e. 6pm-7pm). More specifically, the following dates: • December 2nd, 2025 • February 3rd, 2026 • April 7th, 2026 • June 2nd, 2026 Virtual Office Hours take place on the first Thursday of the other months at 8-9pm Eastern. The different time and day are intended to enable folks to be able to attend at least one. These sessions will run on _Google Meet_ <https://meet.google.com/knv-meet-uzu>. • January **8th**, 2026 (because the first Thursday is New Year’s Day) • March 5th, 2026 • May 7th, 2026

1 0

Reminder About Firefly Board Office Hours
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 03 Nov '25

03 Nov '25

A brief reminder that members of the Board will be available for, well, anything you want to talk about this coming Thursday, 8pm-9pm, virtually <https://meet.google.com/knv-meet-uzu>. We hope to see some of y’all there! If you aren’t able to make this one, here’s the dates for the future occurrences: In-Person Office Hours will take place on the first Tuesday of every other month and are co-located with the first hour of the Greet+Meet at Remnant Brewing <https://maps.app.goo.gl/TXzPEWMbrhM6XsRdA> in Somerville (i.e. 6pm-7pm). More specifically, the following dates: - December 2nd, 2025 - February 3rd, 2026 - April 7th, 2026 - June 2nd, 2026 Virtual Office Hours take place on the first Thursday of the other months at 8pm-9pm Eastern. The different time and day are intended to enable folks to be able to attend at least one. These sessions will run on Google Meet <https://meet.google.com/knv-meet-uzu>. - January 8th, 2026 (because the first Thursday is New Year’s Day) - March 5th, 2026 - May 7th, 2026 Office Hours sessions will be attended by at least a few board members, and are intended to be a time for casual conversation and Q&A. Please note that since the full Board is unlikely to be at any given Office Hours session and since these will not be formal meetings, Office Hours will not be a venue for getting official decisions made or resolving inquiries that may need the participation of the full Board. We are always open to such inquiries by email. Sincerely, The Firefly Arts Collective Board of Directors

1 0

Reminder About Firefly Board Office Hours
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 06 Oct '25

06 Oct '25

A brief reminder that members of the Board will be available for, well, anything you want to talk about this coming Tuesday, 6pm-7pm, at Remnant Brewing <https://maps.app.goo.gl/TXzPEWMbrhM6XsRdA> in Somerville. We hope to see some of y’all there! If you aren’t able to make this one, here’s the dates for the future occurrences. In-Person Office Hours will take place on the first Tuesday of every other month and are co-located with the first hour of the Greet+Meet at Remnant Brewing <https://maps.app.goo.gl/TXzPEWMbrhM6XsRdA> in Somerville (i.e. 6pm-7pm). More specifically, the following dates: - October 7th, 2025 - December 2nd, 2025 - February 3rd, 2026 - April 7th, 2026 - June 2nd, 2026 Virtual Office Hours take place on the first Thursday of the other months at 8pm-9pm Eastern. The different time and day are intended to enable folks to be able to attend at least one. These sessions will run on Google Meet ( link <https://meet.google.com/knv-meet-uzu>) - November 6th, 2025 - January 8th, 2026 (because the first Thursday is New Year’s Day) - March 5th, 2026 - May 7th, 2026 Office Hours sessions will be attended by at least a few board members, and are intended to be a time for casual conversation and Q&A. Please note that since the full Board is unlikely to be at any given Office Hours session and since these will not be formal meetings, Office Hours will not be a venue for getting official decisions made or resolving inquiries that may need the participation of the full Board. We are always open to such inquiries by email. Sincerely, The Firefly Arts Collective Board of Directors

1 0

Firefly Board 101 & Monthly Board Office Hours
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 23 Jul '25

23 Jul '25

*tl;dr: follow this link for info on what board does <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pcz-qA8eo8xw8YjwclgZ57dniCJ1_WOY/view?usp=…> **and we’re doing monthly board office hours open to the community* Howdy again, y’all! Earlier this year, the Board had four new members join in part to increase our capacity in several areas, including communication to the community. Today we want to share two efforts on that front. First: some better explanation as to what the Board is, what we do, and what we don’t do. There’s some information in the bylaws <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly-arts-collective/bylaws/> and our names/bios are listed online <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly-arts-collective/board-of-dire…> already, but those don’t really cover the day-to-day, so we’ve put together some slides on our day-to-day <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pcz-qA8eo8xw8YjwclgZ57dniCJ1_WOY/view?usp=…> to cover exactly that. If you have more questions, feel free to email board(a)fireflyartscollective.org. Email isn’t the best medium for all questions, which leads to our second announcement. During Firefly a few weeks ago, we hosted a series of Board Office Hours - opportunities for members of the community to come up and talk to us about whatever is on their mind. Obviously many of y’all were busy… well… attending Firefly, so we wanted to open up those office hours year round. Moving forward, we plan to have at least one Board Office Hours session each month, alternating in-person and virtual. *In-Person Office Hours* will take place on the first Tuesday of every other month, starting in August, and will be co-located with the first hour of the Greet+Meet at Remnant Brewing <https://maps.app.goo.gl/TXzPEWMbrhM6XsRdA> in Somerville (i.e. 6pm-7pm). More specifically, the following dates: - August 5th, 2025 - October 7th, 2025 - December 2nd, 2025 - February 3rd, 2026 - April 7th, 2026 - June 2nd, 2026 *Virtual Office Hours* will take place on the first Thursday of the other months, starting in September, and will take place at 8pm-9pm Eastern. The different time and day are intended to enable folks to be able to attend at least one. These sessions will run on Google Meet <https://meet.google.com/knv-meet-uzu>. - September 4th, 2025 - November 6th, 2025 - January *8th*, 2026 (because the first Thursday is New Year’s Day) - March 5th, 2026 - May 7th, 2026 Office Hours sessions will be attended by at least a few board members, and are intended to be a time for casual conversation and Q&A. Please note that since the full Board is unlikely to be at any given Office Hours session and since these will not be formal meetings, Office Hours will not be a venue for getting official decisions made or resolving inquiries that may need the participation of the full Board. We are always open to such inquiries by email. Expect more from us in the coming weeks and months (though not every day). If you have any ideas for us, send them our way! Sincerely, The Firefly Arts Collective Board of Directors

1 0

Regarding Survey and New Site Search
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 21 Jul '25

21 Jul '25

Howdy y’all. First off, deep breath: *No decisions have been made to move Firefly.* In response to the post-event survey, we have received a number of questions regarding why Firefly would investigate another space at all. We recognize that talk of potentially having Firefly at a different location came as a surprise to some, and that questions about preferences about the event site in the survey without additional context was not the best way to start this conversation with the whole community. While we were always planning to make a statement like this, we weren’t ready with it at the same time the survey (which is run by an independent team), and we apologize for any confusion and alarm that was caused by this. A key component of the decision to consider alternate locations was ongoing challenges with the new landowners, who have demanded contract terms exceptional to a rental agreement, and that conflict with our organizational autonomy and values. For more detail on how these negotiations shook out, you can see the Appendix B to the Use Agreement <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/news/firefly-2025-ticket-registration…>. The appendix terms were accepted under extreme time pressure in mid-May, with the alternative being the cancellation of the 2025 event. The Board decided at that time that for 2026 and beyond we will only accept a standard land use agreement as has been in place with other past and present landowners. The autonomy of Firefly Arts Collective requires that contractors and suppliers, including landowners, not have policy-making rights granted to them by Firefly by virtue of their role—decisions about sharing Firefly data and who may attend the event should be made by Firefly, including the Festival Committee, Operations Cluster, Board, and Conduct Committee. We recognize that there are still a lot of questions about the process by which this year’s Use Agreement was made, the relevant history, and other details about the current conflicts and potential paths forward. We will address these topics in a forthcoming message. Regarding investigating alternate location options, however, there are several additional reasons for Firefly to evaluate alternatives, including but not limited to: - Accessibility: Firefly is on a huge hill! Every year we have more requests for accessibility assistance, both gear hauling and transport, and that Core has been pushed to the limit of its volunteer capacity. - Land cost: Firefly spends a huge percentage of its budget on land rental and maintenance, moreso (as a percentage and in just overall dollars) than other equivalent events. - Placement: A top negative item in the survey every year is stagnation of theme camp placement, and lack of opportunity for new theme camps. - Parking: Parking is difficult! It's far away, it fills up, people get parked in, people don't have access to their cars, all of which contributes to huge backups at Exodus/GTFO. - Vehicle Access: Getting box trucks to specific theme camps could really be a gamechanger in what kind of spaces and art the community can create. Being able to use golf carts instead of exclusively UTVs would be significantly safer and quieter. Those reasons alone have prompted regular community discussions about finding a new site sometime in the future – many of us think the event could be changed for the better with a new site. At the same time, we recognize many Fireflies have only known the event at the current site, and have fond memories and attachments to the current event terrain and facilities (we certainly do!). All of this said, no decision has been made about locations for 2026! It is possible that we will be able to come to an agreement with the new landowners, but equitable contract negotiations require both sides to have reasonable alternatives. We think this is a good moment for Firefly to investigate our values concerning the land; whether we have to move soon, or in 10+ years, and whether we move because of changes to the land, because of changes in attitudes within the Firefly or Bethel communities, or due to any other issues arising that are out of our control. When the land search begins in earnest it will involve many Fireflies, and we will continue to share information and collect feedback along the way. Currently it has not started -- Firefly was only 2 weeks ago. When it does, there will certainly be wider communication via email with the extended community. Please contact the Board at board(a)fireflyartscollective.org if you have questions. Sincerely, The Firefly Arts Collective Board of Directors

1 0

REMINDER: Firefly 2025 Post-Event Survey
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 19 Jul '25

19 Jul '25

Reminder to fill out the Firefly 2025 post-event survey! <https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cIKrceKfBXImWtE> We're more than halfway to our target. The deadline is *Saturday July 26. *It only takes 15 minutes and helps us improve Firefly for everyone. Thanks everyone! Aaron from Survey Core survey(a)fireflyartscollective.org

1 0

Firefly 2025 Post-Event Survey
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 14 Jul '25

14 Jul '25

Do you have opinions about Firefly? Do you have feelings about the new portos, or ideas about art, or complaints about neighboring camps? This is your opportunity to be heard! Please take 15-20 minutes to fill out the official *Firefly 2025 Post-Event Survey* while those feelings are still fresh. Last year, more than 650 participants filled it out, and we used those responses to design new policies around accessibility, art guidelines, volunteering, and even the new portos. Your survey responses matter! Link here: https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cIKrceKfBXImWtE Thanks everyone! Aaron from Survey Core survey(a)fireflyartscollective.org

1 0

Firefly 2025 GLOWBE #5 — 2025-27-06
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 27 Jun '25

27 Jun '25

Hi Fireflies! We’re back with the fifth and final Glowbe of the Firefly season, and it’s a short one. Hold us closer, tiny Glow-ber! (We are tired.) At the time of writing this email, Firefly begins in: 295,448 seconds, or 4,923 minutes, or 82 hours, or 4 days! See you SOON in the woods! In this edition: - Please Refund Tickets ASAP if You're Not Coming! TL;DR: If you wait ‘til the last minute, someone might not get off the waitlist. Refund unused tickets <https://tickets.fireflyartscollective.org/ticketsale.php> (click “Click here to go back to the ticket sale page”). - Artist and Camp Leads: Please place your art/camp on dust! TL;DR: The 2025 Map <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/getting-ready/map/> is live! You can also follow this link to register your art/camp on dust <https://firefly-2025.dust.events/>. - Open Stage Act Submission Final Call TL;DR: Fill out the Open Stage Submission Form <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYKT2jN3-ZWUwnijI5D6psiEq_t3otgnC…> by Monday, June 30 to reserve performance slots. - Didn't find a volunteer shift you liked? Check again! TL;DR: New volunteer shifts are open, and we especially need help with: Rangers, DPW, LNT, Graveyard, GTFO, and Parking, and other late-night shifts. Check out the open shifts <https://volunteer.fireflyartscollective.org/>! - Glory Glory Hole-lelujah: On Mercurial, twixt Pan's Path and Beat Blvd, right by Kool-Aid TL,DR: The GGH entrance is directly on Mercurial, just past icon "22" (Kool-Aid). - Asks & Offers - Keep in Touch ------------------------------ Please Refund Tickets ASAP if You're Not Coming! If you're currently sitting on a ticket you probably won't use, please refund it as soon as possible! We have almost 150 people on the waitlist who really do want to go, and if you wait until the last day to refund, they won't have time to plan their burn. Head to the Ticketing Website <https://tickets.fireflyartscollective.org/ticketsale.php> and click “Click here to go back to the ticket sale page” to get your refund. -Questions? Contact tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org. ------------------------------ Artist and Camp Leads: Please place your art/camp on dust! Hi squad! As was recently announced, our lovely 2025 map <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/getting-ready/map/> is now live, now with extra-accurate distances! This means it's live on the dust app <https://firefly-2025.dust.events/> as well! If you'd like your camp or art to be findable by other people (which presumably you do if it's on the map), please go to the dust submission menu <https://firefly-2025.dust.events/>, register your art or camp if you haven't already, and place a corresponding marker on the map. And remember, dust event submissions also show up automatically on the WhatWhereWhen <https://events.fireflyartscollective.org/>! Contact communications(a)fireflyartscollective.org if you need any help! ------------------------------ Open Stage Act Submission Final Call Hello Fireflies and happy Sunday, this is Stage Core speaking! This year as all years, we are having an open stage, which means anyone, whoever you may be, can sign up to perform any wacky, wonderful, whimsical, or wonky performance you would like. All you have to do is fill out the Open Stage Submission Form <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYKT2jN3-ZWUwnijI5D6psiEq_t3otgnC…> with your act name, preferred performance time and day, and email so we can send you updates. The sooner you fill the form out, the more likely you will be to get your preferred slot. Also, this form will CLOSE Monday, June 30th. Any sign-ups after that will not be printed on the lineup, HOWEVER you will have an opportunity to write in a last-minute act if you change your mind, into any empty slot you see, as we will hang a big printed lineup near the stage. This is an OPEN stage, so share this with your friends, anybody can perform! Questions? Contact stage(a)fireflyartscollective.org. ------------------------------ Didn't find a volunteer shift you liked? Check again! We have removed unticketed volunteers from shifts, which means some shifts that were previously taken are now open. If you have a ticket, please check if you can help us fill these shifts <https://volunteer.fireflyartscollective.org/>! When? Now, but definitely by June 28th, when we close online volunteer signups so that Gnomes can print the schedule. For which cores? These are especially in need: Rangers, DPW, LNT, Graveyard, GTFO, and Parking. If you can stay late or stay up late that’s a HUGE help! Thank you for volunteering! We can't have Firefly without it! ------------------------------ Glory Glory Hole-lelujah: On Mercurial, twixt Pan's Path and Beat Blvd, right by Kool-Aid Glory Glory Hole-lelujah often makes the earth move for visitors. But you need to make the pilgrimage, and not everyone is comfortable seeking guidance from strangers. We're shown on the map as being in the woods between Pan's Path and Beat Blvd, but we're not. The GGH entrance is directly on Mercurial, just past icon "22" (Kool-Aid). Come by for a Quest (or maybe more)… Gareth(a)GloryGloryHole.com ------------------------------ Asks & OffersLooking Looking for a ride from New York on Thursday morning! -Magdalena, madalenapan(a)gmail.com Offers No offers! I know, wild. ------------------------------ Keep in Touch In addition to the GLOWBE, you can find announcements and keep up with fellow Fireflies on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/groups/firefly.arts.collective> and Discord <https://discord.gg/KtUy8xHqTK>. Subscribe to the Firefly Blinklist Email List <https://lists.fireflyartscollective.org/mailman3/lists/fireflyblink.lists.f…>, A free-for-all email list for community discussion. Use the email directory <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly-arts-collective/contact/> to get in touch with any of the volunteer cores directly. -- Sophia *(Firefly Comms Core Lead)*

1 0

Don't Get Lost! New Maps!
by The Firefly Official Announcement List 26 Jun '25

26 Jun '25

Maps and Placement are excited to announce this year's maps. You can snag them HERE <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/getting-ready/map/>, including new trails and new art! One notable change we've made is moving to a double-sided map for folx who print at home to improve legibility given how much the event has grown over the past few years. Thanks to Dani Mac, Arcturus, and Clyde for this year's map design!! We welcome any and all feedback, as always, and you can reach us at maps(a)fireflyartscollective.org

1 0