Weirdness reigned once again at Lightning in a Bottle 2025.
While the event — which marked its 22nd edition this past weekend, May 21-25 — has alternately been called a transformational festival, a wook gathering and a symposium of psychedelic culture, what’s definitely true is that despite its growth and demographic shifts over the years, the SoCal indie fest still manages to feel not just authentic but a reflection of a fairly specific culture, no small feat in the age of corporate mega-festivals.
In this case, that culture is one interested in art, pleasantly goofy outfits, myriad vibration raising activities and loads of electronic music. (It’s also one that will be recognized by fans of jam bands and attendees of spiritually adjacent festivals like Burning Man and Michigan’s Electric Forest.)
As such, this year’s LiB schedule was populated with activities such as “transformative grief rituals for conscious living and dying” and “high vibe breakfast: tacos for energy & longevity.” There was bingo, there was many varieties of yoga, there was a bar selling exclusively pickle juice, there was a roller skating rink and a drum circle for the kids.
Amid the high heat of the weekend, many attendees could be seen floating on various whimsical inflatables in Lake Webb, located at the center of the site in the Buena Vista Recreation Area 25 miles outside of Bakersfield. Here, tens of thousands of attendees erected their tents and rolled up in their RVs for the event, which is produced by the Do Lab.
Of course, more than any other element, there was music. The 2025 lineup was a mighty one featuring headliners like LiB regular Four Tet, returning star Jamie xx and John Summit, who embraced his self-proclaimed wook side with a Sunday night set on the mainstage and then played a surprise (but not too surprising) b2b with friend and fellow headliner Subtronics.
A flurry of other big and rising stars played across LiB’s six-plus stages, tents and art cars, with the music going until the early hours of the morning. A Saturday night party from L.A.’s legendary A Club Called Rhonda Party series even featured a set by Parris Goebel, who recent work includes creating the choreography for Lady Gaga’s brilliant Coachella 2025 performance and who lit up the Crossroads tent with her high energy show.
And while there were all the typical lights and lasers, arguably the biggest light show of the weekend happened on Saturday night, when a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returning from the International Space Station created a golden streak of light across the sky.
See photos from Lightning in a Bottle 2025 below.
