Placement Basics

Placement Afternoon will begin at a time and date TBD, 2023.

In order to reserve a specific location at Firefly and have a place on the event map, art projects, and Theme Camps must go through the Placement application process.

Anyone can bring art and camp without Placement, but working with Placement Core is required to reserve any specific location in advance.

Note that public art within Theme Camps does not require a separate Placement Application. However, in order to be included on the Event Map, a separate Placement Application for your in-camp art is definitely encouraged!

Also, 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.

To apply for Placement, please read all the info below. Then fill out the Placement Application Form – link at the bottom of this page.

After that, you will send a representative to the Firefly site on Placement Sunday (Work Weekend 2 – come early and volunteer to help prepare the land!)

Placement’s first priority is always to help camps and artists find the right space for their awesome projects! Here is what you need to know about this year’s Placement process and policies:

Getting There

Directions will be emailed to registered and approved participants.

Carpool

We encourage everyone driving to the event site for Placement Sunday to carpool when possible. There is only limited parking available at Work Weekends, including Placement Sunday.

Also, consider sending a representative for your camp who will already be there for Work Weekend, or already planning to represent placement of another camp or art.

Returning Camps and Art

Returning Theme Camps and Art have traditionally been granted first choice of spaces they’ve occupied at the previous Firefly. This policy has helped ensure that established Theme Camps can identify as part of a neighborhood, and sometimes invest in camp infrastructure that may be very site-specific since every site at Firefly has unique quirks and patches of usable space in the forest. You can’t just put a 20 foot dome or a huge fire sculpture anywhere in these woods!

While the event and community have grown and changed quite a bit throughout its history, high Theme Camp return rates to established camp sites have provided relatively few openings for newer participants to utilize the limited number of sites that may be more convenient to parking and portapotties, or more centrally located, or more spacious with level ground. Placement Core is committed to helping preserve Firefly community traditions, while also finding ways to provide fair site opportunities on the land to all who want to express their creativity without having to carry all their gear far up the Path of No Return!

But much time has passed since the last Firefly in 2019, and it remains to be seen how many new and returning camps will be coming to Firefly this year with big or new plans. Maybe supply and demand for different kinds of sites will just balance out nicely with everyone’s needs. Your thoughtful responses to the Placement Application can help Placement Core help everyone to find a space they want.

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

Also, if your Theme Camp or Art is cited in 2022 by LNT Core for leaving MOOP, or by Sound Core for repeated violations of Sound Core instructions, or by a Safety core for critical safety violations, future applications for Placement WILL be held for review. You can be denied placement and your space 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!

Conflict Mediation

Placement Afternoon 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 over a space or boundary does arise, please try to resolve in a respectful way between yourselves, or even enlist a neighbor to help give some perspective. If that doesn’t help, Placement Core volunteers onsite will be happy to help mediate if you come to us. 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 at Placement Afternoon, should any changes or negotiations with other projects arise onsite.

Placement Afternoon and Placement Sign-in

At 1PM Sunday June 12, we will all meet briefly at the Placement sign-in table located near the standing stone in the Field. Here you will sign-in for your camp or art, and be given marking tape.

Then we will all go into the woods and field to select and mark the project boundaries as directed, using the marking tape. Placement Core volunteers will be roaming the site to help you and answer questions.

Finally, before your representative leaves for the day, they MUST check in at the Placement sign-in table to confirm their location on the map.

We have chosen this time so your representative can attend just for the day, but everyone is encouraged to come early in the day and spend a few hours helping to prepare the site. Or even better, volunteer for the whole Work Weekend while you’re at it!

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

If for some reason your placement representative cannot attend Placement Afternoon on June 12, please email Placement at the address at the bottom of this page to make alternate arrangements for placing and marking off your space.

Marking Tape Removal

Please remove all marking tape around your space by the 2nd day of the event. We encourage projects to upcycle the streamer-like tape as art, or save it for camp reuse next year.

2022 Placement Application Form

Contact Info

Placement works closely with the Sound, Fire, LNT, Art and Work Weekend Cores, as well as other projects like Camp Leader Training. Contact information provided on these forms will be shared with them. Additionally, contact information may be shared with leads from other registered art and theme camps to help facilitate placement activities (such as putting neighboring projects in touch with each other) And, while planning your project, you can reach out to these cores if you have any questions:

Fire Core: Please read the Fire Policies. Note that any fiery objects, other than camp stoves, must be approved by the Fire Core. There is a real risk of forest fires in this area, please pursue fire and fuel related projects with caution. Your camp can bring above-ground fire bowls but it cannot dig new fire pits. Remember that fuel is MOOP too, and take precautions against even small spills and splashes. fire (@) fireflyartscollective (dot) org
Sound Core:: sound (@) fireflyartscollective (dot) org
LNT: lnt (@) fireflyartscollective (dot) org
Work Weekend: workweekend (@) fireflyartscollective (dot) org

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