Before heading into the Firefly Festival Sunday, Ed Lewandowski, his daughter Kori and a friend of Kori’s packed up their campsite on the Bason Family Farm on Leipsic Road. It was another successful year for the father/daughter team who have been with the festival since it started in 2012.
“It’s a music festival in Delaware. It’s a novelty,” Lewandowski said about the draw of the first year. “Nobody thought it would happen, so when they announced it, everybody was surprised about it and wanted to check it out and it’s been fantastic all three years.”
Lewandowski said he cherishes the time he’s been able to spend with his 17-year-old daughter. Now having camped in the same place again and again, it’s like a reunion every June.
“Chris Bason (whose family owns the farm) is a friend and a colleague,” he said. “So I come in to help him get things set up and make sure everyone has running water and set up the shower enclosure – which is a godsend at a festival.
“It’s just like seeing old friends when you get together. Lots of hugs and lots to catch up on, it’s a good scene, good people.”
Decked out in a stars and stripes unitard, Andi Conlin of Smyrna said her ensemble was festive and fun, like Firefly itself.
Conlin and her group gather in an RV each year for festival weekend. She said she comes every year to hang out with friends as much as she does for the music.
“There are a few (acts) that I really want to see, but it’s really about being here, chilling with my peeps.”
Kori Lewandowski, Ed’s daughter, said she’s been able to meet up with other friends and has seen a lot of festival goers who are even younger than her.
Kori said she mostly comes to The Woodlands for the smaller stage acts.
“I think a lot of the smaller stage bands have really drawn me in,” she said. “The headliners are nice, they’re a bonus I think, but for the most part a bunch of the smaller bands are what I listen to normally.”
She’s even had the opportunity to discover new music, like that of one band who has moved up the bill this year.
“I think the first year I saw Imagine Dragons and that was when no one knew who they were,” Kori said. “And now they’re playing on the Main Stage. That’s cool, I love their music.”
The growing diversity of the bands is one of the many reasons Wilmington’s Ian Ferguson keeps coming back. This year he was in an RV with a group of friends who fluctuated from 5 to 10 people.
“I think it’s a little more diversity compared to the first year,” he said. The festival had its first hip-hop headliner this year with Outkast on Saturday night.
He said he doesn’t mind the growing crowds from year to year. “It makes sense for the central location. With NASCAR and everything we knew we could handle the people.
“I’m pretty adaptable. I just like to be around the people, the music and the festivities. It was chill the first year, but I’m glad it’s growing and more people are being exposed to it.
“I’ve been here all three years, I like the music, I like the ambiance and everything, so the bigger the better. Let’s keep it rolling.”
Shannon Morganti, of Point Pleasant, N.J., and her sister are three-year veterans and brought an RV with their group of five for the first time this year. The luxury of the vehicle was an improvement.
“The RV is a lot easier,” Morganti said. “Especially coming in the night before on Wednesday. There was no traffic at all coming down here. Last year we got stuck in six hours of traffic. It’s a lot easier to sleep in the RV, too. You don’t have to get up with the sun at six o’clock in the morning and it’s a lot better for the heat factor.”
She said they do their research leading up the festival to scope out what they want to see.
“The first year it was The Killers, Jack White, pretty much the headliners,” Morganti said. “Then once we found out all the secondary bands that were going to be there, we started listening to them more and then we really started to like them.”
That first year hooked her and she said she doesn’t see her love affair with Firefly ending any time soon.
“We had an absolute blast the first year so, of course, before we even know the bands, we bought our tickets during the pre-sale and everything,” Morganti said of her prep for 2013. “We knew that if they had such an awesome lineup the first year, it was guaranteed to be pretty awesome the second year.”
Last year didn’t disappoint and as of Friday afternoon, 2014 was already panning out well. “We’re definitely coming back,” she said.
The evolution of the festival has experienced growing pains, Lewandowski noted, but it hasn’t been close to bad enough to discourage him from returning.
“Someone used the word magical for the first year,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty fitting description. It just felt very comfortable, very at ease. It was a good vibe and you a the space if you wanted to spread out a blanket, you could do it.
“Last year it was just insane, like being in a feed lot, and shoulder to shoulder to get from show to show. It was just crazy. My wife (who only attended last year) wasn’t real comfortable. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and that’s not what you want to see at a music festival.
“This year they did a fantastic job of changing the layout and providing space for people. People like space. You like crowds for a while but you need space. I never felt crowded the year, unless I wanted to be at a Main Stage performance. I’m happy with what they’ve done.”
Asked if he’ll be back for a fourth year, there was no hesitation before he said, “I’ll buy my tickets Wednesday morning.”
Red Frog Events announced Friday the 2015 Firefly Festival will be next June 18-21 and fans can purchase tickets at at the event website as early as Wednesday for $199.
