By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Firefly Nights summer festivals are ready to bounce back in a big way.
Set for the third Fridays of the summer months – June 17, July 15, and Aug. 19 – the festivals are returning after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic. The downtown festival runs from 6-10 p.m.
Much will be the same – food trucks, musical acts, arts and crafts vendors and kids activities. But festival organizers have some major changes in store.
Notably Wooster Green will be appended to the footprint, which stretches from the intersection of South Main and Washington Street to the intersection of North Main and Court Street.
Wooster Green will have a bounce house and slide and when the sun sets Thayer Family Dealerships will present movie night.
Michelle Elson, the new executive director, said the festivals’ return has been met with enthusiasm. “People are very, very excited to have it back,” said the new director of the event. “Every single person we talk to is excited.”
What hasn’t changed is Firefly Nights’ reliance on volunteers to stage the festival.
Each festival takes 100 volunteers to help set up, keep the grounds tidy, keep kids entertained, answer visitors questions, and clean up at the end of the evening.
Anyone interested can visit the Firefly Nights signup.com page or they can email festival organizers at fireflynightsbg@gmail.com.
One of the major changes won’t be obvious of those who attend. The event is being run by an entirely new leadership team.
Firefly Nights was founded in 2018 by a quartet of downtown business women.
Those founders, Elson said, are now busy getting their businesses back on track after the pandemic.
Elson and several other women have stepped up.
Like Elson, who coordinated the music for previous Firefly festivals, a couple committee members were already part of the show. Amy Simmons brings her experience with logistics and securing sponsorship and the logistics. Kristen Strum works on recruiting volunteers and the vendors.
Kat Patterson, who works with Visit BG Ohio, serves as the festival’s marketing director.
The committee also brought on Amber Hines, long-time preschool teacher, to run the kids activities
“All are just lovers of the festival,” Elson said.
Among the changes will be a family music tent. On June 17 that will feature Tim Ohlers from 6-8 p.m.
The family music tent will also give children a chance to create their own musical instruments.
State Bank, the Children’s Resource Center and city Parks and Recreation are all working on providing kids’ activities.
The music stage is moving the parking lot near Mackenzie Flowers.
Set to perform on June 17 acts are: Todd Elson and Ryan Brown, 6:30 p.m.; Morgen Stiegler’s Pinup Project, 7:30 p.m.; and The Lone Wolf Hippies, 9 p.m.
The festival will no longer have a beer tent. That’s not needed given the adoption of DORA in downtown.
The festival is also working with Glovation, from Toledo, to offer bubble play and face painting as well as strolling stilt walkers and LED jugglers.
The festival has also arranged for about a dozen of vendors. Elson said they insure a variety by having vendors who sell different products. Same holds true for food trucks with each serving a different cuisine.
