“I’m here for Friends. Vibes. And deadmau5.
My outfit is very cozy, and it’s got beautiful colors. Plus it protects me from the sun.”
— Bart, from Poland
Geoff and Angela, 28 and 26, from Blacksburg, Va.
Connor (21) from Washington, D.C.; Bree (21), Liana (21) and Julian (16) from Philadelphia.
“I thought at 31, with a daughter, I’d be the only mom here, but I see moms with kids here.”
— Mollie, of Virginia, pictured with Austin, 23.
“I’ve done the LOCKN’ Festival in Virginia, which is more my scene, but I still had so much fun here.
Last night I was driving next to another cab who was flying a Star Wars Rebel Alliance flag. So he tossed me a light saber and we had a duel while driving customers around.
At a festival, and at the bar shifts, this job is all about greasing the societal wheels. Like, getting people from where they are to where they gotta go. Making sure the party happens more efficiently. When you’re my customer, I’m not just driving you somewhere—I’m making sure you catch 30 more minutes of music.”
— James, 23, from Richmond, Va.
“The one thing I told myself before I even started the car—I want to hear what Fetty Wap sounds like live, without the autotune.”
— Amy and Chris, from Baltimore.
“We made a commitment to do one festival a year. For 2012 we did Bonnaroo—that was the first one. Then we did Firefly, Austin City Limits.
We’ve been married for 19 years. We have a teenage child at home who doesn’t understand how cool his parents are. It’s great for the marriage because it allows us to just have fun and play for a while.
We’re glamping this year, and even that’s like roughing it for me. So maybe a hotel next year.
We have game that Judd invented a couple days ago: It’s like an age-related version of Marco Polo. Anytime we see someone older than us, someone has to say ‘Marco’ first, and when the other person spots him, they have to say ‘Polo.’
We look around and see all these college kids, and we have a 14-year-old at home, and it’s like—wow. Maybe we shouldn’t do this forever. But everybody’s our friend. Everybody’s nice, and we all like the same music.”
— Sara and Judd, 48, from Chesapeake, Va.
“I love the festival. I’ve been here before. It’s a really awesome experience. It’s a great way to meet new friends. It’s a great vibe.
It’s dynamic. Electronic. You have so many different elements here—a younger crowd, an older crowd; hip-hop, indie, electronic music.”
— Dani, 29, from Chengdu, China
“The bubbles are fun. It’s easier to talk to people when you have something to share with them.
There’s one guy that I keep seeing at the festival. On Friday, he had on a full-body cheetah outfit, and yesterday he had a full-body tie-dyed outfit, so I’m trying to find him today.”
— Isa and Anika, from Berkeley Heights, N.J.
Dressing the Firefliers: A Q&A with the owners of Grassroots
The experience
“This is our third year here. It’s a great experience, but it’s very tiring. Long hours, big crowds—we have to be vigilant all day. There are people who don’t like to pay for things.”
The look
“Our clothing is kind of a contemporary bohemian style that appeals to people all the way across the board. We sell a lot of jewelry, sunglasses, hair bands.”
The deal
“It’s very worth it for us. It’s become very, very important to our business throughout the year to set up at Firefly. This event pays a lot of bills. We’re really supportive of the event because it not only supports our business, but a lot of businesses in the state—especially in the Dover area.”
The crazy
“We have a great people-watching spot. We’ve seen some people passed out; we get some drunks on the truck. But nothing too outrageous. We went to Bonnaroo last year, and I was surprised by the amount of non-clothed people. This is tame compared to that—though I did see one naked person here.”
— Kristin Short and sister Joanna Stayb, co-owners of Grassroots
The Grotto Pizza crew serves up Delaware’s legendary grub.
Newark’s own I Don’t Give a Fork food truck feeds hungry Firefliers at The Hub.
