Firefly announces 2018 daily lineup; adds more artists incl. Kamasi Washington, Tierra Whack

Photo by Joe Del Tufo | joedeltufo.com

Firefly Music Festival has announced its daily lineup for this year’s festival, annually hosted at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. The inaugural festival took place in 2012 as a 3-day festival and has continuously grown with each passing year, creating one of the biggest summer festivals on the East Coast. From the campgrounds to the festival’s main stage, Firefly is a highlight of the summer for many music fans.

Friday’s headliner is Arctic Monkeys. The English band from Sheffield occupied the Friday sunset slot for their first year at Firefly, in 2014, and this year they return to the main stage to headline. You can see other acts like Big Gigantic, Marian Hill, Foster the People and more around the festival on Friday.

Saturday’s headliners are Eminem and The Killers, the latter headlined the very first Firefly Festival. Lil Wayne, Portugal the Man, Vance Joy, Lucy Dacus, and more perform on Saturday.

Top Dawg Entertainment label-mates Kendrick Lamar and SZA appear on Sunday, fresh off the Camden stop on their TDE Championship Tour. Odesza, Alt-J, Warren G, and more perform on Sunday. If I had to guess, EDM duo Odesza will close the festival Sunday night at the Backyard Stage. Artists to previously appear in the festival’s closing-slot include Dillon Francis, Major Lazer, and Big Gigantic.

Although there are some noticeable absences to the daily lineup (Rudimental and Northern Lights, among others, appeared on the initial lineup), the daily lineup reveals new additions to the festival. Modern jazz gatekeeper Kamasi Washington is arguably the biggest addition; he just so happens to be releasing his recently-announced LP, Heaven and Earth, on June 22, just 5 days after his Firefly appearance. Other noticeable additions include up-and-coming Philly rapper Tierra Whack, New York indie rock band We Are Scientists, and more to-be-announced artists leading up to the festival.

While the time slots (read: conflicts) have not been announced yet, check out the daily lineup below to start plotting your festival punch list. Visit Firefly’s website to purchase tickets to the festival. Single-day passes go on sale Friday, April 13, at 10:00 a.m. EST.