05/21/2026
I’m currently writing this from our tent at Buena Vista Lake, awaiting the start of Lightning in Bottle 2026, resting with my honey as he puts string lights on my backpack and on his hat during our downtime, and reminiscing about the journey of LIB that all started for me 15 years ago.
Back in 2011 at 24 years old, I had moved from San Diego (where I went to college) back to my mom’s house in the Bay Area 2 years after college. I was probably depressed and definitely feeling very lost about what my next steps in life were. I was a raver all throughout college and EDC LA was my yearly mecca from 2007-2011. A friend I met at Coachella had told me I’d really like this festival called Lightning in a Bottle, so my sister .wav and I bought tickets.
We drove to the festival and I remember seeing “BRC” bumper stickers on the cars around us, which I knew meant we were about to experience a new, exciting, yet unfamiliar community: Burners. Upon arriving in the will call parking lot, we stepped out of our cars and the guys who parked next to us were so friendly, so kind, and so welcoming to us. We were met with hugs and curious/entertaining conversations and my sister turned to me and whispered, “Our People.”
Before even driving into the festival, she could feel it and she was right. LIB and the vast collection of humans, music & art I experienced over the next 3 days absolutely changed my life that weekend. It blew my mind and heart wide open - just knowing that a space existed of the most epic, artistic, playful, authentic, kind, generous, hilarious, silly humans radically altered my brain chemistry in a way that gave me permission to become more me.
I’ve seen the festival go through 4 iterations of venues alongside the growing pains and been to 50+ festivals since then - I’ve made so many amazing connections and best friends, expanded my heart capacity and belief in humanity, created my own immersive art to contribute to the festival experience, met my love , and had many more transformational experiences & epiphanies in these spaces - to name a few.
(Continued in comments…)
