Picture everything from the most ambient to the glitchiest electronica nestled along Southern California’s Lake Skinner County Park in the heart of Temecula wine country. This is the vibe for the Do Lab’s 8th annual Lightning in a Bottle festival. Headliners include deep house DJ Nicholas Jaar, dubstep pro Rusko and chilled out groove whiz Tycho, along with Paper Diamond, Emancipator, PANTyRAiD, Lee Burridge and GRiZ.
The electronica-heavy boutique music and arts festival almost didn’t happen this year after losing its old location.
“We scrambled in a pinch to try and find a new spot and get the permits,” organizer Jesse Flemming told VIBE. “Somebody is looking out for us because everything kind of fell into place perfectly and within a matter of four months we were able to find a new location and go through the entire permitting process with the county and get permission to do it.”
Lightning in a Bottle, or LIB for short, started 13 years ago as a backwoods birthday party for Flemming and his twin brother Josh, and has grown into a 15,000 person event that takes place across five days. This year from July 11 to July 15.
“For us, the lineups are a pretty big part of the festival, but we really care about the experience that you’re having when you’re not standing in front of a stage — everything from weird circuses that you’ll stumble upon to all kinds of roaming performers,” says Flemming. The fest also includes spiritual living workshops, where they’ll have everything from sunrise yoga lessons to guest speakers and exotic world music from inside their The Lucent Temple of Consciousness.
“The list is endless of all the random things that you could experience at Lightning in a Bottle,” adds Flemming. “You won’t see most of those things anywhere else.”
Other performers include iconic Los Angeles radio DJ Jason Bentley, Kastle, house legend François K, Miguel Migs, Eskmo, indie rockers Blackbird Blackbird and promising upcoming indie folk-rock act Herbert Bail Orchestra, plus some 100 more acts. While the main stage shuts down at midnight, the fest goes on thanks to its “Choose Your Adventure” theme.
“It’s really 24 hours, and you choose your adventure,” says Flemming. “After hours, that’s when all the really interesting areas fire up. I would say from midnight to sunrise is really just an incredible experience there waiting to happen.
For more information about LIB, and to purchase tickets, visit http://lightninginabottle.org.