<\/p>\nIn another episode of What Happens at Firefly …, Gauthier saw fans destroy their own truck.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The revelers were \u201cdancing on the roof and then the roof caved in,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Then the fans put a sign on their truck that\u00a0basically said: \u201cGive us five bucks and you can hit our truck with a baseball bat,\u201d Gauthier noted. \u201cPeople were paying them to just destroy their truck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mission impossible? An auntie,\u00a0stepmom\u00a0sneak niece into Firefly\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nWhen Christy Hawkes bought tickets to her first Firefly in 2022, the plan was to go with her sister, Mandi Chandler, to see rapper\/singer Ashnikko.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\nHawkes also wanted to hang out with her niece, Alyssa Fearn (Chandler’s stepdaughter), another Ashnikko fan. But Fearn lives in Ohio and had to work, so she\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0make the trip to Delaware for her first Firefly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\nHer festival auntie got creative to get the Ohioan to Firefly anyway by creating cutouts of Fearn’s face. She and Chandler then had festivalgoers pose with the cutouts in The Woodlands. It allowed her to work and simultaneously party at Firefly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it would be a cute idea to bring some cutouts of her so that she could be there in the pictures with us,\u201d Hawkes said. \u201cIt was actually a great conversation starter.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nWhat was Fearn’s reaction when she saw so many strangers posing with her picture at Firefly?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing that they included me,\u201d Fearn said. \u201cI smiled all night seeing all the pictures people took with me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hawkes said it broke their hearts that Firefly\u00a0hasn’t\u00a0returned since 2022 because the plan was for all of them to go in the future. She and her sister had\u00a0a great time\u00a0and were embraced by\u00a0strangers\u00a0who treated them like part of their tribe, she said.<\/p>\n\n\u201cAt least once a year, we still go to a concert, but it’s nothing like Firefly,\u201d Hawkes said. \u201cThe energy of Firefly is unmatched, still. It was family vibes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘Forever festival buddy’ at Firefly<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nFirefly veterans may call 2022 the weakest year of the festival, but for Johanna Murphy and John Welch, it marked their second date.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a little bit nerve wracking because I wasn’t quite comfortable with her yet [and] was still getting to know her,\u201d Welch said with a nervous laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n\nIt was Murphy’s seventh Firefly, more than double the number Welch had attended. She explained that the festival is more of her scene, a place where she can dress up \u201ckind of crazy,\u201d flaunt the totems she crafted and hang with 30-plus festival friends.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\nMany from that Firefly crew later attended the couple’s wedding this May, which\u00a0had a festival\u00a0theme.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u00a0felt like dropping\u00a0John into my\u00a0world, basically. But he did\u00a0really well,\u201d Murphy recalled about their Firefly debut together, branding Welch her \u201cforever festival buddy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I saw a naked parade’ at Firefly\u00a0<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nIt all started one night when Gauthier decided to stargaze in the campgrounds, while his crew was asleep. Then he heard a noise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a naked parade,\u201d he explained. \u201cI looked down and there’s like 40 naked people walking towards me.\u201d The nudists invited Gauthier to tag along. But he was stuck in his ways and remained\u00a0clothes-minded.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\u201cHonestly, my girl [was]\u00a0sleep,\u00a0and I don’t think she’d appreciate that,\u201d he explained.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The untold ‘Fight Club’ moment at Firefly\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nOver the last year, Lindsey Biagiotti has gambled on traveling to other festivals like\u00a0Bourban\u00a0& Beyond in Louisville and Bonnaroo. But neither could scratch her Firefly-sized itch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Biagiotti attended every\u00a0Firefly\u00a0and, as a bonus, she got to see her Delaware state trooper cousin who always was on festival duty.\u00a0Firefly\u00a0was a gateway to great times for her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The festival also gave her a crazy story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Firefly fan recalled one festival when guests had to evacuate during a\u00a0thunderstorm\u00a0and she decided to seek shelter in her SUV and sleep. That decision led Biagiotti to\u00a0having\u00a0a Delaware-themed \u201cFight Club\u201d moment in her vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\u201cMy blanket was stuck in the door and as I was pulling it\u00a0up,\u00a0I ended up punching myself in the nose and bleeding everywhere in my car,\u201d she recalled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\nDespite looking like an unintentional Andrew W.K. \u201cI Get Wet\u201d album cover, Biagiotti is\u00a0tough as nails\u00a0and still has fond memories of The Woodlands.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt introduced me to the wonderful world of festivals to other music lovers just like me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
More concert news: <\/strong>Delaware State Fair 2026 teases wild mix of concerts<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nHere’s the ‘strangest thing’ about Firefly\u00a0<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nAcross 10 Firefly festivals (2012\u201319, 2021\u201322), tens of thousands attended each year, peaking at over 90,000 in 2015.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet for Gauthier, the strangest sight at the festival wasn\u2019t the naked parade, the dudes’ wrecked car or even the burning couch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was something\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0never\u00a0witnessed\u00a0there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strangest thing is the fact that I went to every single one, and I never saw a fight. Not once, which is crazy if you think about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\nBiagiotti objects …\u00a0but\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0for a different day.<\/p>\n
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter\u00a0Andre Lamar<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0alamar@gannett.com<\/a>. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at\u00a0delawareonline.com\/newsletters<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"play\"](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n