The City of Madison hosted its annual “Firefly Festival” in the city’s town park on July 25-26.
The end-of-summer event held its Kids Night on the 25th, from 6-8 p.m., with its Date Night concert the following evening, from 7-9:30.
The weekend event has taken place for more than a decade, offering music and various entertainment activities for the community before the school year’s return.
Firefly’s Kids Night was available to children 12 and under, featuring activities such as face painting, a reptile station, and various arts and crafts projects. The Date Night event featured a concert from the music group, “The Sensational Sounds of Motown.”
The summer festival tradition began shortly after the opening of Madison Town Park in 2009.
“The town park was a bicentennial gift to the city,” said Colleen Hall, Madison Main Street event coordinator. “With it came programming for events and things like that to get people to come out to the park and foster community.”
According to Hall, Main Street Madison begins planning the festival in January each year, alongside the other occasions in the “full event season.” She believes it is essential to make the plans ahead of time, due to many aspects that “need to be nailed down very early.”
“I mean, [Firefly] is perfect [for summer] because everybody’s back from a vacation, they’re all in great moods and have to go back to school the following week,” Hall said. “It’s a great end-of-summer celebration that everyone loves.”
This year’s Kids’ Night featured multiple local efforts, including the Madison Youth Area Soccer Association, Clover Craft Studio, and “The Bean and Bear Show,” based in Athens. Georgia-Pacific, a sponsor for Firefly Night, also gave away fun items for the kids.
Firefly Festival’s Date Night occasion has operated as a concert since the festival first began. “The Sensational Sounds of Motown” has participated in the event each year since its beginning.
“[The group will] play from 7-9:30 with a break in between, and on that break, there’s usually music playing, and people still dance and relax,” Hall said. “Everyone just crowds on the lawn and the fountain plaza and enjoys the evening.”