Lightning in a Bottle took their name from a friend's small annual private birthday party from 2001 to 2003. The birthday celebration recurred each July as a friends-only, private event. In 2004, the event's co-founders and producers, Dream Rockwell, Josh Flemming and Jesse Flemming, who call themselves The Do LaB, hosted Lightning in a Bottle at Gold Creek Ranch in the Angeles National Forest.[10][9] After a one-year hiatus, the birthday party transformed into a 3 day festival was hosted by Do LAB at Live Oak Camp in Santa Barbara from 2006 to 2008. At the first festival drew around 1,000 attendes.[10][9] After the eighth festival, The Do LaB relocated Lightning in a Bottle to accommodate the increasing attendance. Another one-year hiatus passed, and in 2010 the festival was held at Oak Canyon Ranch in Silverado and by 2012, the festival grew to around 15,000 attendes.[6][9] In 2013, the event was moved to Lake Skinner in Winchester, and the 2014 festival was at San Antonio Reservoir Recreation Area in Bradley. In 2015 and 2016, the festival returned to San Antonio Reservoir Recreation Area in Bradley, California.[11] In 2019 the Kern County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Lightning in a Bottle music festival moving to the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area.[12] The festival did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] Lightning in a Bottle restarted in 2022, staying at the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area and has continued until now.[15][16] Each year attendance has grown and in 2025, festival attendance reached around 26,000 people in which 5,000 were either artists, event organizers, or vendors.[17]
Mission and Philosophy
Lightning in a Bottle was designed not as only a music festival, but to encourage to community building, creativity, self-expression, and sustainability.[9][18][19] The organizers goal for the event is not meant for passive attendance, but rather active participation through art installations, workshops, and movement based activities.[20] The festival's guiding principles are honoring the land, celebrating life, creating community, and active participation. [18][20] They achieve this through having local Indigenous representatives, cultural advisors, wellness classes, meditation, lectures, and skill based learning activites. [9][18][19] Sustainability is also a key feature in which Lightning in a Bottle implements waste reduction systems, composting programs and promoting awarness of sustainability.[9]
In 2024, Lightning in a Bottle was voted runner-up for Best Music Festival by USA Today.[24]
Lightning in a Bottle Stages
Tinlicker at the Woogie Stage (2025)Banana Stage at Lighting in a Bottle (2025)
There are 7 stages at Lightning in a Bottle.
Lightning
Thunder
Woogie
Grand Artique
Junkyard
Stacks
Crossroads
The main stage of Lightning in a Bottle is the Lightning stage which holds all of the headliners performances.[25] There are also many other smaller movable stages located all over the festival grounds where local artists perform a bananas, catipillars, and monsters.[26]
12Seilhan, Jesse (23 May 2012). "Lightning in a Bottle 2012: Where art meets culture (and cleans up after itself)". Examiner.com. Clarity Digital Group.
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