ALL DADS WILL BE OFFERED FREE ADMISSION AS WELL. NEW ON FOUR THIS MORNING. EITHER CAUGHT THEM AS A KID, OR MAYBE YOU’RE CATCHING THEM NOW WITH YOUR KIDS OR GRANDKIDS. WE ALL KNOW THE START TO WARMER WEATHER MEANS SEEING MORE FIREFLIES IN OUR REGION. METEOROLOGIST JILL SZWED IS HERE WITH US THIS MORNING WITH A REALLY INTERESTING STORY ABOUT A SPECIAL EVENT HAPPENING HERE IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. AND RIGHT. JANELLE, DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S ACTUALLY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FIREFLY SPECIES HERE IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA? AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WATCH THEIR FLASH PATTERNS? ONE SPECIAL SPECIES FOUND UP IN FOREST COUNTY WILL ACTUALLY FLASH IN UNISON. BACK IN 2012, A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS FROM TENNESSEE VISITED KEN AND PEGGY BUTLER’S BED AND BREAKFAST DURING A SURVEY FOR WHAT’S CALLED SYNCHRONOUS FIREFLIES IN THE ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST. THIS VISIT ALSO SPARKED THE BUTLER’S CURIOSITY AND ULTIMATELY LED TO THE CREATION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA FIREFLY FESTIVAL, WHICH IS NOW IN ITS 14TH YEAR. THIS YEAR. THEY WANT TO FLASH ALL AT THE SAME TIME. THAT’S APPEALING TO THE FEMALES THAT ARE ON THE GROUND, SO THEY ALL FLASH SIX TIMES, VERY QUICKLY. THEN THEY GO DARK. SO WHEN THE WHOLE FOREST CANOPY GOES DARK, PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE, YOU HEAR THIS, WOW, WHAT WAS THAT? THEY JUST CAN’T BELIEVE THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY’RE SEEING. HEY, THAT’S A NICE TIME TALKING TO THE BUTLERS. NOW, THE GUIDED TOURS FOR THE SYNCHRONOUS FIREFLIES ARE ALREADY BOOKED THIS YEAR, BUT YOU ARE INVITED TO STILL ATTEND THE PENNSYLVANIA FIREFLY FESTIVAL IN TIONESTA NEXT WEEKEND, JUNE 26TH AND 27TH. BACK CLOSER TO HOME, OTHER FIREFLY WALKS WILL BE HELD THIS WEEKEND, AND
Western Pennsylvania firefly festival draws visitors for rare synchronous display
Synchronous fireflies are drawing crowds to the Allegheny National Forest.
Updated: 11:29 AM EDT Jun 19, 2026
The early nights of summer signal the return of fireflies, or lightning bugs, to western Pennsylvania. You just need to know where — and when — to look.”You want trees, you want tall grasses. You want wildflowers, you want wet ground. And we have that here. We have meadows, we have forests, we have swampy, marshy areas. And if you’re a lightning bug, that’s exactly what you want,” said Joe Franckiewicz, an Allegheny County park ranger. The Commonwealth is home to a couple dozen different species of fireflies. “You can observe those patterns or even see the shapes that they trace in the night sky and recognize, oh, that’s this species,” said Brandon McCracken, ecological restoration manager at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. In the Allegheny National Forest in Forest County, synchronous fireflies are attracting crowds and scientists. “They want to flash all at the same time. That’s appealing to the females that are on the ground. So they all flash six times very quickly. Then they go dark,” described Peggy Butler, co-founder of the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival. “So when the whole forest canopy goes dark, people in the audience, you hear this? Wow! What was that? They just can’t believe that this is what they’re seeing,” said Ken Butler, co-founder of the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival. The Butlers founded the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in Tionesta, Forest County, 14 years ago.”If you know what to look for and when to look for them and how to look for them safely, then you’ll find synchronous fireflies. But it’s teaching people and educating people about how to do it safely and sustainably to protect the habitats where those fireflies are,” Peggy Butler said. Guided tours of the synchronous fireflies are already booked, but the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in Tionesta on June 26 and 27 offers much more. Firefly programming is happening this weekend at Pittsburgh’s Riverview Park and the Succop Nature Park in Butler County. An event at Harrison Hills Park is scheduled for July 10.
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. —
The early nights of summer signal the return of fireflies, or lightning bugs, to western Pennsylvania. You just need to know where — and when — to look.
“You want trees, you want tall grasses. You want wildflowers, you want wet ground. And we have that here. We have meadows, we have forests, we have swampy, marshy areas. And if you’re a lightning bug, that’s exactly what you want,” said Joe Franckiewicz, an Allegheny County park ranger.
The Commonwealth is home to a couple dozen different species of fireflies.
“You can observe those patterns or even see the shapes that they trace in the night sky and recognize, oh, that’s this species,” said Brandon McCracken, ecological restoration manager at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
In the Allegheny National Forest in Forest County, synchronous fireflies are attracting crowds and scientists.
“They want to flash all at the same time. That’s appealing to the females that are on the ground. So they all flash six times very quickly. Then they go dark,” described Peggy Butler, co-founder of the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival.
“So when the whole forest canopy goes dark, people in the audience, you hear this? Wow! What was that? They just can’t believe that this is what they’re seeing,” said Ken Butler, co-founder of the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival.
The Butlers founded the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in Tionesta, Forest County, 14 years ago.
“If you know what to look for and when to look for them and how to look for them safely, then you’ll find synchronous fireflies. But it’s teaching people and educating people about how to do it safely and sustainably to protect the habitats where those fireflies are,” Peggy Butler said.
Guided tours of the synchronous fireflies are already booked, but the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in Tionesta on June 26 and 27 offers much more.
Firefly programming is happening this weekend at Pittsburgh’s Riverview Park and the Succop Nature Park in Butler County. An event at Harrison Hills Park is scheduled for July 10.