The latest newsletter from the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in Forest County has an update on the activities, and effort made to make the 2020 virtual PA Firefly Festival a success. It also includes links to the 12 videos produced as part of the Festival and the Facebook Live stream of performances on the Firefly Stage. Enjoy!
On April 13, 2020 the 8th Annual Pennsylvania Firefly Festival suddenly became the “Virtual Stay-At-Home Festival” due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing restrictions across Pennsylvania.
A new idea along with a new 2020 poster was created, and away we went with hosting the first virtual PAFF on June 27th.
The first step to achieving this new version was to get our firefly experts, artists and musicians inspired and creative in a whole new way.
Our experts submitted informational videos on every aspect of fireflies from life-cycles, habitat and firefly love to safe hunting, displays and conservation.
The artists contributed virtual firefly inspired art galleries, movie trailers, stories and interpretive dances.
Last but not least, the mp3s of original music were dropped that became the soundtrack for the 2020 PAFF Virtual Stay-At-Home Festival.
The next step was to edit and post the videos. To say that our band-width in Kellettville is “limited” is a huge understatement.
We are lucky to get 2 MBs of upload speed, and this meant that 2 minutes of video took hours (sometimes days) to upload to the Youtube channel.
In the end, it all paid off, because now we have 12 videos that can be viewed anytime for information or inspiration about fireflies.
The collaboration itself was inspirational. Some of these contributors had never made videos or slideshows and struggled to learn the technology. Yet somehow, everyone contributed something unique but relevant.
The 8th Annual PAFF Saturday was a rainy day, but this year it didn’t matter. We didn’t have parking issues or vendors to move in and set-up. We didn’t have 100s of people to register for walks with multitudes of questions.
What we did have was our perennial favorite troubadour, Matt Miskie. He set up and hosted a Facebook Live stream performance from the Firefly Stage. Then Matt serenaded the 25 VIP firefly watchers that evening through our new, wireless sound system.
PAFF now has a Bluetooth ear-bud sound system that gives up to 40 individuals an assured socially distant, and yet quiet, intimate listening experience for the firefly interpretive program.
The fireflies this year were totally unaffected by the COVID-19 and provided a spectacular show that night and well into July. Perhaps, the lack of crowds and disruptions will prove to be a positive consequence of a pandemic after all, especially to the fireflies.
While the pandemic was certainly a hardship on thousands of families and communities, we learned so much from this experience. We learned what is essential to the festival and the season, and what we can do without. We learned what people value and what is best for our festival going forward.
We can’t assume next year we will be back to "business as usual," but there will be a "new normal."
Next year, PAFF will be focused on quality vs. quantity, safer smaller gatherings with the focus on viewing fireflies. Although we will miss some aspects of a large festival, we can now say sometimes less is better.
So until next year, take care of yourself, stay safe and healthy. We look forward to the 9th Annual PAFF on Saturday, June 26th, 2021, and hope you will be able to join us here in Kellettville for a very special synchronous firefly experience.
Click Here to watch a video about the PA Firefly Festival in 2019.
Visit the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival website for more information. Visit the Firefly Conservation webpage for online resources, activities and other educational materials and videos. Sign up for their email list (bottom of the page). Click Here to support their work.
[Note: The firefly-- Photuris pennsylvania (De Geer) is the official state insect of Pennsylvania. Click Here to learn how it was named in 1974. Click Here to watch a video about the firefly from PHMC.]
(Reprinted from the latest newsletter from the PA Firefly Festival.)
Related Article:
DCNR Good Natured Blog: Pennsylvania Fireflies
[Posted: October 5, 2020] PA Environment Digest
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