community blog
Sun Down Gatherings: A Call to Community
At Firefly, evening fires honor the connection to our human ancestors in community-centered circles to integrate and embody what we experienced that day. Learn more about the importance of our evenings together below!
Firefly Gathering 2022 Annual Report
2022 was Firefly Gathering’s first year back to the annual gathering since COVID, and we had the second annual gathering since receiving our 501c3 nonprofit status. Over the last three years since becoming a nonprofit, Firefly Gathering has grown and is blossoming with new vigor! Read the 2022 annual report here!
Love in Preservation: Get to Know DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren
Meet DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren, a queer artist, researcher, and organizer from the Catawba Indian Nation joining us for his 4th year as an instructor this summer. Learn more about Roo’s path the teaching, and more about his offerings below.
Reconnection and Intentional Spaces with Jae Ortiz
Learn more about Jae Ortiz’s offerings at Firefly, and how intentional spaces like the Neighborhood build community resilience and reconnection in our pathways forward.
A Day in the Life at Firefly Gathering
Whether its your first time or your fifteenth, this slice-of-life will help orient you to a week off the grid with us and get a few things on your preliminary pack list!
Creating a Better World: Q & A with Artist Lily Harlin
“Creativity and imagination go hand in hand, and without the cultivation of both, how can we begin to imagine a better world?
Youth Village and Nature Connection at Firefly Gathering
Building relationships with nature early on can make a huge difference in your child’s journey to getting to know themselves deeply, and in reclaiming their birthright: the ability to be in nature with ease. In this spirit, youth at Firefly are fully immersed in the goodness of nature at Youth Village during class time for adults and teens.
Earthskills are Riveting: Q & A with Metal Work Instructor Gray Taylor
“I see Earthskills as a way for people to regain the grounding effects of being in nature, to hear again the sounds of birds, frogs and laughter; to use their hands to craft things from the natural world as all of our ancestors once survived upon…that is the village that we all seek to build, and Earthskills Gatherings are one way to feel that calling.”
A Few of Our Favorites: Homebrews from Around the World
Meet a few of our favorite homebrews from around the world with our resident brew chef and fermentation enthusiast, Marissa Percoco.
An Equinox Prayer
Although we live on an amazingly generous planet, we are inundated with messages of scarcity, greed and domination. At this time in our human experience, many feel a dire call for change.
Learning to Thrive: Survival & Outdoor Living Skills with Jason Drevenak
Meet instructor Jason Drevanak, joining us for his 8th year at the Gathering this summer. Inspired by the joy of figuring out how our ancestors learned to thrive in their perspective environments, Jason is here to share survival and outdoor living skills for beginners and experts alike!
Wild Edible Plants: A Few of Firefly’s Springtime Favorites
Spring is the perfect time for clearing our livers of winter’s heavier foods and hibernating energies. We’ve gathered for your enjoyment and exploration a list of some of our favorite wild edible plants to get you started!
Earthskills for Everybody: Firefly Gathering’s Equity Fund, Committee, and Growth
With exciting expansions in our Equity Committee, Equity Fund, and plans for what this work looks like at the Annual Gathering itself, we invite you to read more about our current equity work and how to support these efforts.
Making Bone Tools: Craft and Kinship with Instructor Josh Barnwell
“As people who value life and feel the weight of responsibility for every life taken to continue our own, learning how to utilize every part we can of these animal bodies draws us deeper into ties of kinship with the more than human world.”
Communication, Equity, and Inclusion for Community : Firefly Gathering Instructor Makeda Meeks
“As long as white supremacy goes unchecked in our cultural communication and educational systems, the dream of community will evade us.”
Finding Love; Finding Freedom
Every morning we have the opportunity to bravely face a new day and choose love. Despite the obstacles, we can work to remain filled with that mysterious love that wells up from deep within and fills every part of us. This is the love that heals and changes the world.