Stage set for Delaware music festival

With a week to go, Delaware’s massive Firefly Music Festival in Dover is starting to take shape. 

Stages, vendor tents, gravel roads, hammock stations and porta-potties are now set up on the grassy area near Dover International Speedway, renamed the “Woodlands.”

“To have the vision to take the woods and transform it into a mini-Woodstock is pretty amazing,” Delaware Tourism Director Linda Parkowski said while surveying the area. Firefly takes place July 20-22. Headliners include big-name acts like Jack White, the Black Keys, The Killers, The Flaming Lips, OK Go, John Legend and Death Cab For Cutie. The rock festival is expected to draw 30-40,000 music fans to the Dover area and generate $12.6 million in revenue.  

“The whole state will actually get a little bit of this economic infusion, because hotels in all three counties are booking up thanks to Firefly,” Parkowski said.

And Parkowski hopes many of those fans will also take some time to attend the Delaware State Fair, which runs July 19-28. The fair brings roughly 35,000 people daily to the Harrington area.

“We’re hoping the music fans who come to the festival get here early and stay a little longer after it’s over,” Parkowski said.