Lightning in a Bottle: 2013

In the midst of festival season, up pops a gem .... Lightning in a Bottle.

What started as a small campout/birthday party about 10 years ago, has bloomed into the magnificent "LIB," with 15,000 attendees expected this year. The location has had to grow with the festival .... from a field, to Gold Creek Ranch just north of LA, to Live Oak Camp near Santa Barbara, to Oak Canyon east of Irvine, to Skinner Lake, in south Riverside.

One of the biggest tasks faced by Jesse, Josh and Dede Flemming, the festivals creators, is convincing the local authorities they are not a rave. "We have some loud music and flashing lights, but we are so much more. There are art galleries, and adventure zone for kids, a meditation temple, a marketplace, a casino, a 3D lounge, an acoustic stage and all sorts of (vegetarian) food," Dede told me when we spoke recently.

"Getting Nicholas Jaar as the headliner on Saturday night is fantastic for us. We played email tag for a while, but we are thrilled to have him play." "But this festival could not happen if it wasn't for our awesome crew and volunteers (350+), without them, it would probably just be a birthday party in a field."

Unlike Coachella, Glastonbury and many other big festivals, Lightning in a Bottle, like Burning Man, is a "leave no trace" event, where the attendees/participants objective is to leave the festival grounds cleaner than when they arrived. So pack it in: pack it out people and have yourselves the very best weekend possible.

Here are pictures from last year.