The 8th Annual PA Firefly Festival based in Tionesta, Forest County will hold a Virtual Stay-At-Home PA Firefly Festival on June 27, in light of COVID-19 restrictions.
Festival organizers will still celebrate the joy of the firefly season and continue to educate the public during this time of social distancing.
Some of the scheduled 2020 firefly experts and artists will now participate virtually. In other words, they will submit photos, videos and slide show presentations which will appear on the PA Firefly Events website, and PAFF YouTube Channel, Instagram and/or Facebook pages on June 27th.
The 2020 Virtual PAFF is still a celebration of the joy of fireflies. This enables people to stay at home and still take advantage of social media and online information to learn about the fireflies in their own backyards.
You can also participate in the science of fireflies by becoming a “Firefly Watcher” at the Firefly Watch Citizen Science Project. You would be contributing greatly to the world-wide database and helping to advance the science of fireflies.
The virtual Art After Dark sponsored by the Elk County Council of the Arts and Pennsylvania Partners of Art, will feature a presentation by the United Nations Ambassador of Art, Mr. Ibiyinka Alao, world-renowned photographer Radim Schreiber and original music by Pennsylvania’s favorite troubadour, Matt Miskie.
During the firefly season, PAFF will continue to monitor and conduct their summer research in Kellettville, Forest County and throughout Western Pennsylvania. Ms. Valerie Kuppek, is a senior in Biology at Dickinson College and their Summer Research Intern.
She will be monitoring our local fireflies and helping to produce a Virtual Firefly Walk once the Synchronous Firefly season begins here in June. The hope is to stream, or at least post, the videos online.
The PA Firefly Festival is typically held the last Saturday in June. This coincides with the mating displays of over fifteen different species of firefly in the Allegheny National Forest area including the Synchronous firefly and the unique "Chinese Lantern" firefly along the Tionesta Creek.
Firefly Interpretative Programs
The PA Firefly Festival will be offering some limited, in-person firefly viewing programs in June and July.
The programs will follow CDC guidelines for safety and attendance is limited to 25 participants or less to minimize health risks and environmental impacts.
Events will be held June 10, 13, 20, 24, 27 and July 4 in Forest County.
Click Here to register and for more information.
State Insect
The firefly-- Photuris pennsylvania (De Geer) is the official state insect of Pennsylvania. Click Here to learn how it was named in 1974.
For more information, visit the PA Firefly Festival website. Visit the Firefly Conservation webpage for online resources, activities and other educational materials and videos. Click Here to sign up for the latest news on the PA Firefly Festival. Click Here to buy your 2020 PA Firefly Festival t-shirt.
(Photo: Visit FireFlyExperience.org by Radim Schreiber for cool firefly photos.)
[Posted: June 4, 2020] PA Environment Digest
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