Winners of the 2023 Glamping with Fireflies Raffle

Two Grand Prize winners were drawn on Saturday, May 27, Keun An and Jennifer Mulcahy were the lucky winners.  They have chosen their prize. One has chosen a night of "Glamping" with fireflies, while the other has chosen the $300 cash prize.  The raffle surpassed our goal of $3000.  The proceeds will benefit our Firefly Educational Programs and help to support students and faculty studying fireflies in our area and around the world.  Thank you to all of those who purchased a chance.  We hope to continue to offer this next year.

The Lottery is CLOSED

 The 2023 Lottery entry period is now CLOSED.  We had over 1500 applications.  Thank you to everyone who entered.  Congratulations to those whose names have been selected for the 130 available spots at the 2023 PA Firefly Events. 

​

If your name has been chosen to attend an event you selected, you will be notified by email on Sunday, April 2.  You will receive a link and a code to the ticketing website, so you can register for the event of your choice within 48 hours of that notification.  Only adults need to be registered for the events.  Children 5 to 11 years old are FREE and do not need to be registered.  These events are not intended for children under 5-yo.  If you choose to not register for an event you entered or miss the deadline (April 4, 2023), your space will open to the next person in the queue.  So if you aren't notified on Sunday, you may still be in the queue.  Those notified after April 4, or subsequent dates, will also have 48 hours in which to register, and the queue will remain active until all spaces have been claimed.  We will then announce when all the spots have been claimed.

​

Stay tuned for announcements about other Private Firefly Tour opportunities and the "Glamping Raffle".  These will be announced once the registration for the events has concluded.

 

Thank you again to all who entered.  We sincerely believe a “lottery” system for registration is the fairest and most equitable solution.  It is PAFF’s mission to educate the public about the fireflies of Pennsylvania in order to protect and preserve the fireflies for future generations.  So, we hope you will appreciate this effort as we strive to provide the most responsible and sustainable firefly tourism programs.

The PAFF Board Approves Changes for 2023

 The following items were approved at the January 28th Pennsylvania Firefly Festival Inc. board meeting.

• The 2023 PAFF Officers and Directors were approved, including Jeff Calta as President, Peggy Butler as Secretary; Ken Butler as Treasurer; Rod Daum, Director; Matt Miskie, Director; Sam Butler, Director; Dr. Sarah Lower, Director. 

• The popular local’s night event will return for the 2023 festival week.  The Local’s Night event will be held on Thursday, June 29th starting at 9 PM.  This exclusive event is free for  the first twenty-five (25) Forest County residents who pre-register and provide their Forest County mailing address.  To protect the habitat, the first twenty-five qualified Forest County residents who register will be notified  and placed on a list for admittance. Register at this link, or at www.pafireflyevents.org/2019-locals-night.

• The 11th Annual PA Firefly Festival will be held on Friday, June 30th and Saturday, July 1 for a limited pre-registered audience selected by a lottery drawing.  To enter the lottery, each adult must complete the Google Form and register at this link before March 31.  You may enter for more than one event, but each person should only enter once per event.  

• The Glow & Know Campouts will be another opportunity offered by PAFF for learning more about the fireflies and their habitats while camping overnight in Kellettville.  The 2023 campouts are scheduled for Saturday, June 24 and Wednesday, June 28.  Registration for the campouts are also by lottery drawing.  Use the above link for the Google form or go to this page https://www.pafireflyevents.org/copy-of-10th-pa-firefly-festival-vide on the pafireflyevents.org

Stay tuned for more information on how to enter the “Glamping with Fireflies” Raffle and private tour information coming in April.  

International Firefly Symposium, Portugal 2022

  Ken & I were proud to attend the International Firefly Symposium in Gaia, Portugal in June 2022, sponsored by Fireflyers International Network (FIN).  We had been waiting for 2 years for the opportunity which was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns and travel restrictions.  Since 2012, we have learned more about fireflies than we ever thought we would need to know.  We've learned about the biology of fireflies, ecology, conservation, and the issues concerning ecotourism thanks to the help of firefly researchers and expert authors like Lynn Faust, Sarah Lower, Avalon Owens, and of course Sara Lewis.  So, we were honored to be asked to present at this year's IFS about firefly tourism in Pennsylvania. 

Portugal as a country is very special.  The cities of Porto and Villa Nova de Gaia are beautiful and historic.   The terraced landscapes along the Duro river were breathtaking.  We enjoyed meeting the people, eating the food, especially the seafood, and drinking the vinho.  

The FIN/IFS held at the Parque Biologico de Gaia was three days of presentations and exhibits on firefly ecology, behavior, taxonomy, phylogeny, genetics, conservation, citizen science, art, and society.  It sounds very heavy and scientific, but surprisingly inspirational and enlightening! 

The IFS was mainly a chance for us to meet other researchers and firefly experts from around the world that we couldn't pass up. Our presentation titled "Pennsylvania Firefly Tourism: Be Careful What You Wish For" was well received by the audience, but we took away much more than we gave.  We met over 70 people from across the US, North, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.  Most impressive were the young students who presented and exhibited posters.   PAFF was among the sponsors that helped the students with travel stipends so they could attend the IFS.  The most amazing thing that stood out for us was that even though we had just met most of these people for the first time in person (many we knew by name or from virtual meetings), we became fast friends all because of a little lightning bug.  We will have many fond memories to look back on, but now we look forward to Mexico City in 2025!

Planning for the 10th Season of Fireflies!

 We are counting down the days until our 10th season of events.  We are planning for 3 Glow & Know Campouts and 2 nights of the PA Firefly Festival.  The first event of the season starts on Tuesday, June 8 with the Glow & Know Campout at Scarlett Knob Campground in Fayette County, near Ohiopyle. Saturday, June 18 the G&K campout is at Camp Lutherlyn in Butler County.  Next, the 10th Annual PAFF will be held in Kellettville on Friday, June 24, and Saturday, June 25.  The last event will be the G&K campout on Tuesday, June 28 in Kellettville.  Each event offers firefly programs with experts, guided interpretative firefly viewing, and fun for all.  Online pre-registration is required for all events.  Space is strictly limited to ensure a safe and intimate setting that protects the habitats of the fireflies.  

Registration will begin on May 1st at 9AM EDT.  Links for the registration will be posted on the website, pafireflyevents.org.  Subscribers to the quarterly newsletter will receive advance notification of the links.  So, be ready with your credit card when the box office opens.   Here are some tips and courtesies to keep in mind when registering:

• Please register you and your party for only ONE event.  Booking multiple dates with the intent of attending only one prevents others from attending on the night of their choice
• Complete your registration and check out as soon as possible.  Holding tickets in a cart does not complete your registration. It only blocks others from registration.  It can crash the site and you may lose your spot when you eventually check out.
• You do not have to have a PayPal account to checkout.  PayPal is our credit card processor.  
• Registration is non-refundable, but is transferrable.  If you are unable to attend your scheduled event, please feel free to send someone in your place.  We do not ask for IDs at check-in.
• There are no tickets. You will get a wristband when you check in.  DO print a receipt.

We appreciate that the demand to see fireflies is immense.  There are estimated to be over 100,000 people trying to see fireflies this year in the US.  We are only one of a handful of sites in North America where people can go see the Synchronous fireflies.   That said, we are doing everything we can to maintain a responsible and sustainable eco-tourism opportunity.  We want to raise awareness of the significance of the firefly in the ecosystem of the forest while we protect the environment for future generations of fireflies.   We hope you will be one of the lucky patrons at one of our events this year or in the future.