Photo: Firefly Music Festival Fan Page group shot, 2019. Credit: Michael Greco
Firefly Music Festival has grown into a cultural event attended by tens of thousands of people each year. It's not a music festival that brings locals to see barely known acts. It is a major pop culture affair that finds people traveling from across the globe to attend with A-List artists timing the release of their singles and albums around their performances. While the powers of the bookers and the publicity machine help to make that a possibility each June, there's a team of dedicated fans that work all year to aid in the success of Firefly.
Enter: Firefly Music Festival Fan Page. With over 18,000 members and growing daily, the Facebook group is a force to be reckoned with. With extremely active discussions regarding things like the best way to camp, where to go for certain foods and how to make the most of your time there, Firefly Music Festival Fan Page has become the “go to” resource for Firefly.
The page also has a special knack for helping out fellow festival goers. One poster wrote about her Uber driver losing his daughter’s National Championship Skating jacket while giving a ride at Firefly. The fan page was able to track down the jacket and get it back to the driver. Post after post is filled with a strong community helping each other, as well as perfect strangers.
Firefly Music Festival Fan Page started when Jimi Gauthier drove into the camping area back in year one of Firefly. It was his first festival. He attended with his good friend as well as his now wife. They were a bit overwhelmed with what to do. In camping they met Michael Greco, a friendly, tenured festival goer who also volunteered running the original Firefly message board. Gauthier said Greco really helped him out that first weekend. In fact, it really made a mark on him.
Soon after getting home from the festival, Gauthier started Firefly Music Festival Fan Page and about 40 people joined. He had so much fun at Firefly that he was excited for the next year and ready to talk about it with others who felt the same. The page took off over the next couple of years and got to the point where Gauthier had to recruit help as admins. He knew exactly who to ask.
Michael Greco says that the group has been the core online gathering place for fans of Firefly. "Meetups have been a pivotal part of Firefly fan culture for years." Greco, Gauthier and other members of the group began organizing outside events including a winter gathering of fans called Winterfly, as well as an annual beer pong tournament and a welcoming committee.
Gauthier states, "I've always wanted the page to be as friendly and inviting as Firefly itself. I wanted it to be peaceful, caring, understanding and helpful." As for his then girlfriend, she is now his wife. Greco, an ordained minister, married them at The Woodlands (with permission, of course). Many members of the group were in attendance of the wedding and some were even in the wedding party itself.
Today, Firefly Music Festival Fan Page serves as the most important resource for Firefly, aside from Firefly itself. Discussion and meetups are constantly happening. People post pictures and videos, discuss memories and experiences, and debate about next year’s lineup. If the Firefly Music Festival stood for something besides music, it would have to be community. The Firefly Music Festival Fan Page not only honors that, but takes it to a whole other level.
We've got all of your Firefly Music Festival 2019 coverage including interviews with your favorite Firefly performers, behind the scenes goodies, and so much more at our Firefly Music Festival hub.
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