Firefly Festival Lights Up The Night

Families from around Princeton celebrated the start of summer and hunted for fireflies at the Terhune Orchards' Firefly Festival on Sunday night.

The festival attracted families from around the Princeton area and encouraged them to appreciate wildlife and nature. Attendees could pet the farm’s animals, take pony and wagon rides, buy food from Pam’s Firefly Tent and enjoy live entertainment.

Many also arrived wearing their own firefly wings.

Bintu Kennedy of Hillsborough said that she and her family did not know the festival was happening when they stopped at Terhune Orchards Sunday night.

“We were just driving by,” she said. “But it’s Father’s Day and it’s nice for the kids to spend time with their father.” She added that visiting the farm was a great way to enjoy the beauty of New Jersey.

Others came to Terhune Orchards with a clear objective in mind.

“We’re going to get some fireflies,” 5-year-old Shoshana Kiriegsman declared, demonstrating how she would capture the bugs with her hands.

In addition to firefly hunting after sunset, the festival featured a $5 craft center where families could make their own firefly wings, antennae and bug boxes.

Elaine Madigan, an employee at Terhune Orchards, helped children at the craft center and offered people information about fireflies. She said that the festival was the farm’s owner Pam Mount’s idea.

“It was originally in cooperation with Princeton University and the children’s library,” Madigan said. “We brought our products down there once, but we later adopted it here.”

Other entertainment included performances by Schafer’s Gymnastics and Miss Amy and Her Big Kids Band, who encouraged kids to get on their feet to dance and play with colorful scarves.