Lightning In A Bottle is just around the corner! With only a few weeks to go, it’s time we get to the nitty gritty of what’s going on at LIB. There’s so many things to do, that we really need to do our research beforehand! But I’m here to help make it simple. Here’s 3 things you definitely can’t miss at LIB 2016.

Lightning In A Bottle Art and Music festival is celebrating its 11th year May 25-30, 2016 at the San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley, CA. With a full Memorial Day weekend to celebrate, the festival hosts lectures, yoga, headlining musical acts, and delicious meals.  

1. Lucent Temple of Consciousness

The Temple brings festival goers into interactive discussions and workshops covering a plethora of topics. This year, these include intimacy/sexuality, deep healing, self-empowerment, liberating practices, finance, activism and more. Note that the “temple” is not just one tent, but a collection of structures hosting these discussions all in the same general area.

The Temple features celebrated speakers, workshops, day & night yoga, movement instruction, ecstatic dance and intimate music encounters with world-renowned musicians. The Temple of Consciousness is just as huge a part of LIB as the night time musical acts.

The Lucent Temple of Consciousness hosts two yoga stages (Yoga Om & Yoga Namaste), a Learning Kitchen/Silent Disco, two workshop stages (the Pineal Playground and the Mystery School), a Healing Sanctuary for body work, a medication area, and the Temple Stage. 

This years presenters include:

• • Pema Khandro Rinpoche “Getting real in an Unreal World: Buddhist Wisdom for Authenticity & Natrualness”
  • Stuart Watkins “Cutting through the BS of Spiritual Materialism”
  • Helen Schmidt “Empowered Teachings of the Tarot”
  • Anna Bliss “Jedi Mind Tricks: Quantum Transformation”
  • Samuel J “Hip Hop & Downbeat”
  • Radha Agrawal “Belong: How to Build Community in the Digital Age”
  • Here’s the full lineup, there’s really so many you should take a look yourself to see what piques your interest.

Musically, the Temple will host a DJ set by Tasha Blank and a new late night Intimate Musical Encounters with headlining musicians such as Chet Faker and Nahko. There will also be sound healing, ritual performances, spoken word and multi-media art each night at various stages. 

Read about all the activities at the Temple on the LIB site here.

2. The Village

The Village is “culture as a verb”. It is an experiment that tests what village life means and how we can bring that into a contemporary context. The project is interactive and focused on earth based wisdom traditions and the skills necessary to be a sustainable, thriving, interdependent community.

It focuses on honoring the elements and cycles of the natural world, identifying and refining our individual and collective offerings, and remembering a life that integrates the sacred and creative into everyday.

This year, the Village consists of multiple micro-environments. These include: the Sacred Fire, Ancestral Arts Arbor, Community Lodge, Witches Hut and the Permaculture Action Hub. At the Village, information is shared through wisdom transmissions, song and story sharing, ceremony and practical applications of earth based concepts. 

There will also be ancestral arts classes such as carving, fire making and weaving. Prepare to get your hands dirty and participate in activities at the Village that cause you to learn about yourself, and help you discover things you can bring back to your home community. The Village challenges us to think not “what do I truly want?” but “What do I truly have to offer?”.

3. Micro Environments

Maybe you didn’t know, but LIB has some really cool micro-environments hidden all around the festival grounds. These are something you definitely can’t miss at LIB. 

Perhaps the most well known micro-environment is the Grand Artique’s Frontierville. A tribute to the Wild West, Frontierville features a live music stage (playing music at all hours, but fully coming alive after-hours), a tipsy Gypsy Encampment, Boss Whispers’ General Store & Trading Post, Skinny DeVille’s Bar (theatrics and mixology) and The Poison Oak Hotel (a two-story structure with fire and improvised melodies).

Don’t forget, for the trading post, you’ll want to dig through your treasures at home first, to bring something to trade!

Around the festival grounds there are many more unique micro-enviornments. Last year I remember stumbling upon the Jive Joint, which was playing funky music in the early morning hours. This installation is designed to have French Quarter vibes, and has a talent show each night at midnight, so go and share your tricks!

There’s also burlesque, cabaret, gaming and more at Amori’s Casino & Burlesque, and a nice place to take a break and enjoy some conversation is the Tea Temple. And, if you’re looking for something more refined, Giggle Juice Cafe at the Lost Hotel offers a full-service restaurant, juice bar, and even the option to stay at the hotel as an artist!

There’s also a few other dining experiences available, you can purchase tickets here.

So there you have it, 3 things you can’t miss at LIB 2016. There’s so much to explore at the festival, so try to make the most of each day! There’s even more than I’ve shared here! 

Buy your tickets for LIB here and hang out with me!