Smaller, younger crowd for Firefly Music Festival '17

The News Journal

For the second time in the six-year history of Firefly Music Festival, Wilmington's Rob Willis is staying home.

The first time, a couple of years ago, was due to a conflict with another event. This time, Willis and his crew of about 20 music fans, ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-30s, decided to skip it.

A fan dances in the crowd as Twenty One Pilots performs at the Firefly Stage on day two of Firefly Music Festival Friday at The Woodlands in Dover.

And all fingers point to what Willis (and many other fans) see as an underwhelming line-up.

"Last year we got RVs, thought that was a game-changer and were ready to go again this year. Once that lineup hit, it deflated all of our attitudes about going," the 32-year-old said. "I like The Weeknd and Chance the Rapper on the radio, but I'm not paying hundreds of dollars to see them."

While Firefly officials are reporting that this weekend's event will draw 90,000 just like in the past two years, officials with two of Firefly's largest vendors confirmed to The News Journal that they were told to expect about 30 percent fewer fans.

Combined with what seems to be a bump in festival pass giveaways, discounts and personalized reminders to fans leading up to the festival, all signs point to a bit of a struggle to match recent attendance figures.

Ask just about any fan in The Woodlands and that person will tell you, the crowd is smaller.

A post to the Firefly fan Facebook page on Saturday asking about crowd size received about 40 responses and nearly all agreed attendance was down – everyone from fans to folks working the festival.

With the newness of the Firefly experience wearing down, more fans seemingly need a reason to return because it costs about $300 for a general admission four-day pass and about $200 for a basic camping pass. VIP options – premium camping and with premium VIP festival passes – can cost as much as $5,000 for the weekend.

When asked about vendors reporting that they were told to prepare for closer to 60,000 people, Stephanie Mezzano, chief operating officer for Red Frog Events, said, "Throughout the planning process, we communicated different things to all of our vendors."

"It's the same," Mezzano added, denying there's any downturn in crowd size. "We're feeling good. Did you see everybody out there? They're having a good time."

As big-name acts such as The Weeknd and Bob Dylan performed Saturday – traditionally the festival's busiest night – festivalgoers were able to more easily move throughout The Woodlands, unlike in years past when the sometimes crushing crowds kept fans shoulder to shoulder.

To put the strength of Firefly's 2017 lineup in perspective, a pair of the festival's five headliners overlapped with this year's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival roster of headliners. Both featured The Weeknd and Chance the Rapper. While Firefly's other three headliners are strong – Bob Dylan, Muse and Twenty One Pilots – they don't match the firepower of Bonnaroo's other two headliners earlier this month: U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

This is the first year that Firefly announced the festival would be "fan-curated," allowing fans to vote for acts they wanted to see, along with what foods and design themes they wanted.

The resulting lineup was filled with pop, electronic dance music and hip-hop – a long way from the inaugural rock-heavy Firefly in 2012, which boasted The Killers, The Black Keys and Jack White as headliners.

"Finally, a band that actually plays instruments," a VIP 40-something grumbled during a Thursday night set by Icelandic rock/blues four-piece Kaleo.

Perhaps younger fans are more likely to create an account and vote for acts because not only does the music coming off the stages seem more targeted to Firefly's young base this year, but the crowd itself is younger – maybe because older fans like Willis didn't see enough acts they like to pull the trigger.

Willis, production manager for Brandywine Coffee Roasters in Wilmington, added: "Because of this year, we're even contemplating researching some new festivals that we haven't tried. It's going to drive people away if [Firefly] does this again, I'll tell you that."

Even though California's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival sold 198,000 tickets across two weekends last year, according to national concert industry trade journal Pollstar, and found similar success in this year, the music festival boom in the United States has been showing signs of slowing.

Bonnaroo, arguably the premier festival multi-day music and camping festival in the nation, had an all-time low attendance in 2016, according to The Tennessean. This year, the festival bounced back and drew 65,000, but attendance still ranked as the third-worst since 2006, the newspaper reported.

A flood of new competition from festivals in recent years – especially those on the East Coast, such as Firefly, and Governors Ball Music Festival and Panorama Music Festival in New York – may have stolen some thunder (and fans) from Bonnaroo.

Firefly's popularity grew wildly in its first five years, jumping from about 35,000 fans in 2012 to 65,000 in 2013. By the next year, festival officials reported crowds of 80,000 before first hitting the 90,000 mark in 2015 – the year that featured former Beatle Paul McCartney as a headliner. Last year, a similar crowd size was announced.

Mike Tatoian, president and chief executive officer of Dover Motorsports Inc., which leases The Woodlands to Firefly, agrees that this year's festival crowd seems lighter.

"You can feel it," he said. "It's somewhat analogous to what we've gone through in motorsports. Even though our attendance from 10 or 15 years ago is down, our level of wellness is still healthy."

Even before the gates opened this year, it seemed festival officials had an inkling that attendance numbers could be soft.

Free four-day passes have been flying in the weeks leading up to the festival through bar events, media giveaways and raffles. And some fans reported festival officials sent them discount offers for day passes.

Others even received handwritten postcards, like one that landed in a Wilmington fan's mailbox. He had attended the first five festivals and had not yet purchased tickets for 2017. "We can't wait to see you for year six and beyond!" they wrote.

Dover's Dustin Coleman knows all about Firefly giveaways. He has a knack for searching them out – and winning. He's attended the past four Firefly festivals and has not paid once, including this year. (He's won passes from everyone from The News Journal to radio stations Radio 104.5-FM and 95.7 Ben-FM.)

Coleman said he's never seen as many giveaways – or as much festival advertising – as he has this year. And of all people, he would know. It's what he does.

"By far, there was more than previous years," said Coleman, 37, who is attending with his daughter Darby, 6. "It was crazy."

While no date has been announced for a seventh annual Firefly Music Festival, festival officials have confirmed that it will return to Dover next year. Red Frog is four years into a 10-year agreement with Dover International Speedway, granting the company exclusive rights to The Woodlands as a music venue.

So who will play Firefly in 2018? And will the acts be a big enough draw to bring back not only fans like Willis, but also Firefly's mojo?

Check back next spring.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).