Burroughs Creek Park hosts firefly festival, music and community picnic

Burroughs Creek Park will host a free night out for Lawrence families Saturday, June 27, when the Firefly Festival returns to 900 E. 15th St. from 5 to 10:30 p.m. The evening is built around a community picnic and jam session from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by a short firefly talk on the main stage at 7 and performances by Weda Skirts and Mike West.

Organizers are asking people to bring food, drinks, blankets, chairs and even instruments.

Douglas County is backing the second year of the festival as part of a broader push to support local heritage projects. County leaders awarded a total of $250,000 in 2026 grants to 22 community projects. Sparks on the Creek received $4,000 to expand the firefly festival along Burroughs Creek with art, music and nature-based programming.

Lawrence first held the Firefly Festival at Burroughs Creek Park on June 14, 2025, and the county describes the event as an annual celebration of fireflies. This year’s programming keeps the focus on the creek, the park and the neighborhood setting.

The Burroughs Creek Trail & Linear Park was developed with help from the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association, the Brook Creek Neighborhood Association, the Woods on 19th Homeowners Association and the Barker Neighborhood Association. The trail is part of the Lawrence Loop. Tourism listings put it at 1.7 miles and note the Kaw Pavilion, natural-surface paths for creekside exploration and carved limestone boulders that depict prairie plants and creek critters.

A Kansas School Naturalist article puts Kansas at more than a dozen firefly species, about 200 in North America and roughly 2,000 worldwide. In Burroughs Creek Park, the firefly talk will be paired with music, a picnic and a neighborhood crowd.