A University of Delaware Blue Hen flag is waved in front of the Backyard stage at the Firefly Music Festival at The Woodlands at Dover International Speedway on Sunday. (Special to the Delaware State News/Marc Clery)
DOVER — After three days at Firefly Music Festival and more than 70 performances, attendees were starting to slow down on Sunday.
“It’s a little bit more subdued today,” said Lauren Lucca, of Middletown. “(Saturday) and Friday were the two crazy days.”
For attendees, the fourth day of music at the Woodlands of Dover International Speedway, was a low-key end to the long weekend.
“Maybe because it’s a Sunday, everyone’s winding down,” said Veronica Jones, who was resting at the foot of a tree in the Hammock Hangout, a breezy grove strung with hammocks.
“Everyone’s tired. There was a lot of partying going down and everyone’s mellowing out.”
Ms. Jones retreated to the Hammock Hangout after sitting in the hot sun to watch whispery ballads from City and Colour on the Main stage.
Mostly laid-back acts played Firefly on Sunday, including nonchalant surfer Jack Johnson and reggae artist Ziggy Marley.
In the early afternoon, the grounds were less crowded than they had been Friday and Saturday. By 3:45 p.m., though, people poured in to see Weezer, filling the lawn outside the Main stage back to the Dogfish Head brewery tent.
After Weezer, The Lumineers played on the Main stage. The six-piece, rootsy folk band was scheduled to play in 2013, but canceled due to illness. “We’re so glad to be here,” front man Wesley Schultz said.
By the late afternoon, too, the Brewery was also packed with soccer fans watching the World Cup and cheering over the music.
Many campers had gone four straight days spraying dry shampoo on their hair and substituting baby wipes for showers.
“I feel filthy now,” Ms. Jones laughed.
First thing in the morning, she had packed up her campsite. For her and her friend Jourdi Claibourn, there had been many lessons learned at the campgrounds that weekend: how to keep the rainfly on their tent, for instance, and that it’s best to make friends with your neighbors — they may have something you need — like ketchup.
Some attendees headed to the fruity-smelling Garnier Fructis tent to schedule an appointment to get their hair styled and shampooed. Girls wore their hair back in manageable braids.
The sun was out and crowds kicked up dust on their way to the stages.
“You certainly learn to walk around all day with dirt all over you and not care as much,” Ms. Lucca said.
The grounds almost doubled in size this year, and attendees also found that they did a lot more walking as well — which probably didn’t help with exhaustion.
“The problem this year we’ve had is that a band is on at the same time as another we want to see, so we have to bounce back and forth to see them,” Ms. Lucca said.
The good news — the toilet situation definitely improved from last year. There were more Port-a-Potties, and they were serviced more frequently. There were also more vendors and choices for food.
Festival-goers searched for shady spots to nap in the morning. To cool off, they waved mini-fans, shot water pistols at each other, or dribbled water on their thermos on themselves. EMS personnel kept bags of ice and water bottles on hand.
Before major acts started to play, attendees passed the time playing cornhole or throwing Frisbees on the grass, or challenging each other to pinball in the Arcade tent. Saturday night’s trampled glow-sticks still littered the ground.
Staff writer Eleanor La Prade can be reached at 741-8242 or elaprade@newszap.com. Follow @DSNEleanor on Twitter.
0 comments:
Post a Comment