Events and walks
Firefly events
Festivals, guided walks, talks and volunteer counts — anywhere people gather around fireflies.
Why these say a month and not a date
Fireflies answer to temperature and rain, not to a calendar, so the peak moves by weeks from year to year and most organisers only announce their dates a few weeks ahead. We list the months an event usually falls in and link the organiser, who is the only one who can tell you this year's dates. Where an organiser has published them, we show those too, with the day we last checked.
Iwahig Firefly Watching
Guided walk
Iwahig River, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines
- Usually
- all year, after dark
- Getting in
- Ticket or booking
Run by the Iwahig Community Ecotourism Association, whose paddled boats take small groups along the mangrove river. A community enterprise rather than a resort attraction, and the closest thing to a model for what a Philippine firefly site can be.
Organiser's pageLink checked Sep 8, 2026
Kampung Kuantan Fireflies Park
Guided walk
Kuala Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia
- Usually
- all year, after dark
- Getting in
- Ticket or booking
Sampans — unmotorised wooden boats — are poled along the Selangor River past mangrove trees that flash in unison. The boats are unmotorised on purpose: engine noise, wash and fumes all reach the insects.
Organiser's pageLink checked Sep 8, 2026
Synchronous Fireflies at Congaree
Festival
Congaree National Park, South Carolina, United States
- Usually
- mid May to mid June, with a lottery in April
- Getting in
- Lottery, applied for in advance
- Last held
- –
An old-growth floodplain forest, and one of only three places in North America with synchronous fireflies. Passes are drawn by lottery in April; 145 vehicles a night, gates 7pm.
Organiser's pageLink checked Sep 8, 2026
Synchronous Fireflies at Elkmont
Festival
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, United States
- Usually
- late May to mid June, with a lottery in April
- Getting in
- Lottery, applied for in advance
- Species
- Photinus carolinus
One of the few places where a firefly species flashes in unison. The display lasts two to three weeks and the park runs a vehicle lottery on Recreation.gov in late April, because the crowds themselves became a threat to the site.
Organiser's pageLink checked Sep 8, 2026
Know one we have missed?
Send it in and we will look it up. Any kind of firefly event counts: a festival, a guided walk, a talk, a volunteer survey. We need a link to the organiser, because we do not publish anything we cannot check, and we ask for the months rather than exact dates. Those change every year.