This past Memorial Day Weekend, Bradley, California was the temporary home to thousands of people attending Lightning in a Bottle 2018. Being my second year attending, LIB is officially one of my annual staple events to attend like many others since it proved to be a revolutionary one. The Do Lab team once again brought forward everything we love about the festival, but also introduced new elements exceeding our expectations. It’s easy to say that the music is what makes a festival outstanding, but in reality, LIB goes beyond and provides more than just gems to the ears. This year LIB offered activities and classes around Learning & Culture, Interactivity, Art, Yoga & Movement, Community Crafted Goods & Conscious Cuisines, Families at LIB, The Great Outdoors, and of course, music.
LIB 2018 is a conscious community that proves and thrives to make a better tomorrow for our future generations.
Connections and ideas that bloom within these grounds has endless potential… After personally experiencing the four-day weekender, I believe everything it conveyed was only to improve ourselves and those around us. LIB had loads of classes and workshops led by teachers and speakers guiding us for a better self. The Learning & Culture element involved talks about plant medicine, relationship advice, the learning kitchen to feed the soul, water & fire prayers, and including crystal activation classes.
The Interactivity pillar was a definition of an adult playground. Throughout the entire weekend, there were immersive games and activities to partake in. These include the Must-Dash 5k Run, 3rd Annual Invitational Soap Box Derby, Pots & Pans Parade, Do-Over! Beauty Salon & Barber Shop, Fire Flow Zone, The Hideout, and Rink-A-Dink Rink. There was also Interactivity options available all day and night for anyone like the White Library, The Zoa, Boogaloo City and much more.
A limitless experience.
The musical element of LIB stood out the most out of all the particles of the festival.
It welcomed once again the Lightning, Woggie, Thunder, Grand Artique, Pagoda and Favela Stage. The Lightning stage invited live performances of various genres like Zhu, Monolink, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Sofi Tukker, and The Glitch Mob. The Woggie stage included acts from house to techno like Will Clarke, Purple Disco Machine, Yotto, Nicole Moudaber, Rampa, and Partricio.
The Grand Artique had live instrumental performances and acts like The Herbert Bail Orchestra, Dragonfly, Sur, The Dragon Lights, Con Brio, and The Talent Show. The Pagoda Bar invited acts like Kraddy, Volo, Mansion, Ethan Glass, Pigeon Hole, The Librarian, and Gladkill. Lastly, The Favela Bar included artist like Patrik Zhack, Armen Miran, Enzo Muro, Lovecraft, and two surprise guests of Zhu and Sacha Robotti.
Sacha Robotti – ‘Melato Nina’:
Art is undeniably Lightning in a Bottle’s backbone since it existed at every corner of the festival.
There was live painting & art-walk, creative workshops & classes, art installations, structures & stages, and performance art. This year there was the Artclave that was designed to wake the inner artist of each one of us by taking lessons that were offered at different skill levels. The stages either music or interactive ones were carefully designed and curated perfectly becoming orgiastic to our eyes.
The Yoga & Movement classes were offered in three tiers including yoga practices, meditation, and dance & movement. Every day at almost every hour there was a class held providing you an option to unwind in various ways. Classes involved included acro-yoga, ecstatic dancing, astro-flow, earthing, and so much more! The meditation point was located on the outside rim of the festival providing quiet and peacefulness atmospheres for your own meditation sessions.
The Community Crafted Goods & Conscious Cuisines included the marketplace, eats & drinks including beer, cocktails, and wine. There were options available for the health heads and those who wished to get wild with some sweets. This was considered as conscious eating and assisted on fueling our souls. Besides the food vendors, LIB provided three sit-down restaurants for either a date night or brunch with friends. Great place for a first date.
LIB welcomed all ages to the festival and for this, families at LIB was crucially important.
There was a set time and list of activities for the youth. These include games, exercise & play, freestyle flows, sound bath meditation, story time, face painting, and more. The parents had an option to sit in also on talks led by knowledgeable teachers in the Parent Portal in the Kids Village. Even us adults could sit in to really feel like a kid again.
The location of LIB is truly one of the favorites. Having the option to camp by the lakeside made it a peaceful and pleasurable environment. Everyone brought their A-game by converting the campgrounds to their temporary homes. From decorating their tents and hosting parties to having cook-outs with new neighbors.
Phones & Tops off fun!
Enjoy the Lightning in the Bottle 2018 announcement video, while waiting on the official recap.
With all the components involved above, it’s obvious that Lightning in a Bottle stands out so different from other festivals. Everything that it conveys proves it wants to make history by being a conscious community making an impact for the generations of tomorrow.
