PA Firefly Festival’s Glowing Success
Protecting PA Fireflies and the regional economic impact
The 2024 PA Firefly Festival (PAFF) impact statement has been released. Since 2012, PAFF has
hosted 4,931 festival patrons at the annual Forest County festival. Demand remains strong, this
past year over 2500 lottery applications were submitted for the one hundred sixty event
tickets.
Guests attending the festivities enjoyed music, art, shared campfire stories and learned about
firefly conservation during the late June festival in Kellettville, PA. Attendees also learned about
the key role of water quality, soil condition and dark sky for invertebrate habitat conservation.
The firefly festival continues to introduce out-of-state visitors to the region and be an economic
stimulus to the region. The farthest US families travelled from California while international
visitors included families from Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia.
Based upon a survey, the average person spent $300 on fuel, food, lodging, event tickets, and
shopping on the way to and from the event. Out-of-state visitors often fly into Pittsburgh and
choose hotels near the airport which adds another $100 to $200 to their expenses. Since
inception, the PAFF festival’s projected regional economic impact exceeds $1,450,000.
The 2.3K PAFF newsletter subscribers, 4.2K Facebook followers, generous donors, volunteers, the
PA Wilds, Allegheny County Parks, US Army Corp of Engineers, and Bucknell University all
contributed to the growth of educational programing throughout PA. In 2024 PAFF delivered
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) based firefly themed educational
programs for community groups in Pittsburgh, Titusville, East Stroudsburg, Malvern as well as in
Forest County, PA.
About the PA Firefly Festival
The mission of Pennsylvania Firefly Festival, Inc. is to deliver STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) based firefly-themed educational programs that unite diverse races and cultures by focusing upon the universal interest in fireflies. This mission will be accomplished by educational presentations to Pennsylvania K-12 schools, state parks, special interest groups and community firefly-themed events.
PAFF goals are as follows:
- Foster an understanding of natural world functions and the science and math behind firefly synchrony.
- Stimulate critical thinking about the key role of water quality, soil condition, and dark sky for habitat conservation/environmental protection.
- Provide actionable solutions to protect fireflies as well as other invertebrate habitats at home and throughout the community.
PAFF celebrates the firefly season with the Annual PA Firefly Festival Campouts on the last weekend in June. This typically 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. PAFF is dedicated to responsible and sustainable firefly tourism in Pennsylvania and beyond.
For more information about festival events for 2025 go to www.pafireflyevents.org.
Submitted by: Ken R. Butler, Treasurer, PA Firefly Festival Inc.
Phone: 814-230-2035
Email: pa***************@gm***.com
