Art and Theme Camp Placement

(2025 placement applications coming soon!)

Placement Core helps camps and artists find the right space for their awesome projects (Theme Camps and Art)! Projects send a Placement Representative on Placement Day to stake out a spot before the event. Anyone can bring art or a Theme Camp without Placement, but working with Placement Core is required to reserve any specific location in advance of Firefly.

2025 Placement Dates

  • May 12: Art and Theme Camp Placement Applications Open
  • June 8: Art and Theme Camp Placement Applications Close
  • June 15: Placement Day (during Work Weekend #2)

Placement Basics

To reserve a specific location at Firefly and have a place on the event map, art projects and Theme Camps must fill out the Placement Application above before Placement Day, then show up on Placement Day. Placement Core uses your application to connect your project with other Firefly Cores like Maps, Sound, LNT, and Fire Safety, before and after the event.

  • Anyone can bring art or a Theme Camp without Placement, but working with Placement Core is required to reserve any specific location in advance.
  • Public art within Theme Camps does not require a separate Placement Application.
  • Please submit a separate Placement Application for each piece of in-camp art that you want on the event map.
  • Firefly Art Grant recipients are NOT automatically entered for placement; similarly, art that hasn’t received an Art Grant can absolutely be placed at Firefly.
  • Some theme camps have a schedule of events, which you can publish in the “WhatWhereWhen Guide” if you choose.
  • You must send a Placement Representative to the Firefly site on Placement Day.

If you have questions, please email placement@fireflyartscollective.org.

Returning Camps and Art

Returning Theme Camps and Art have traditionally had first choice to return to the space they occupied at the previous Firefly. This policy helps established Theme Camps identify as part of a neighborhood, and sometimes invest in site-specific camp infrastructure since every site has unique quirks and constraints. You can’t put a 20-foot dome or a huge fire sculpture just anywhere in these woods!

Placement Core will make every effort to accommodate your request for return placement to a previous spot, but it is not guaranteed. Please also think about a second choice of land that could work for your project.

We recognize that the tradition limits the number of convenient camp sites available to newer participants. Placement Core is committed to helping preserve Firefly community traditions, while also providing fair opportunities to all who want to express their creativity without having to carry all their gear up the Path of No Return! Your thoughtful responses to the Placement Application can help everyone find a good space.

Also, returning Placement Applications will be held for review if (for example) your Theme Camp or Art is:

  • Cited for leaving excessive MOOP,
  • Cited for repeated violations of Sound Core instructions,
  • Cited for critical safety violations, or
  • We hear substantial complaints from nearby camps.

You can be denied placement and your space will be given to another project next year. It is your responsibility to know and follow those policies if you want to continue being placed in the same location in the future!

Placement Day

Placement Day 2025 is Sunday, June 15, during Work Weekend #2.

Placement Day is generally held during Work Weekend 2, just weeks before Firefly (come early and volunteer to help prepare the land!).

Updates for 2025: Placement will start at 11am sharp!

  • 10am: Placement Core will be available to answer questions, explain the process and changes for 2025.
  • 11am: Placement Representatives start marking things.

Surveying tape and name plates will be handed out at the beginning of each session at the Open Stage.

Before leaving the event site, EVERY Placement Representative MUST check-out at the Placement tent and confirm their location on the draft map.

You must sign up for the Work Weekend if you intend to be there for the full weekend.

If for some reason you cannot attend Placement Day yourself, please email Placement at placement@fireflyartscollective.org to make alternate arrangements for placing and marking off your space.

Placement Core will also be available on-site on Saturday, June 14 to advise Placement Representatives ahead of time, if needed.

Conflict Mediation

Placement Day is largely a participant-run process. It tends to be very friendly and non-adversarial, and some really great solutions have arisen between neighbors by collaborating during Placement. If a conflict arises over a space or boundary, please try to resolve it between yourselves respectfully, or even enlist a neighbor to help give some perspective. If that doesn’t help, Placement Core volunteers on-site will be happy to help mediate. But if a resolution cannot be reached, Placement Core will make final placement decisions according to the best interests of Firefly.

Your Placement Representative should be prepared to make a decision on your team’s behalf about the final location of your project on Placement Day, should any changes or negotiations with other projects arise on-site.

Marking Tape Removal

All marking tape around your space must be removed by the 2nd day of the event. We encourage projects to upcycle the streamer-like tape as art, save it for camp reuse next year, or use it to mark tents and guy-lines.

Contact Info

Placement works closely with the Sound, Fire, LNT, Art, and Work Weekend Cores, as well as Camp Leads. We will share the contact information on your Placement Application with them. Additionally, we may share contact information with leads from other registered projects to help facilitate placement activities (such as putting neighboring projects in touch with each other). While planning your project, you can reach out to these cores if you have any questions:

Still have questions? Email us at placement@fireflyartscollective.org.

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