It’s springtime in Southern California and everything was in full bloom at the magical Lucidity Festival . Nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley Mountains and pressed against Santa Barbara’s coastline is the Live Oak Campground, where Lucidity delivered its sixth year with flare.

This year’s Lucidity Fest was themed "Eudaimonia," which is the Greek word for human flourishing and it represents a lightness of spirit, renewal, and communion. Learning and healing sessions were welcoming, wonderful, organic foods were eaten, fire was twirled, and fantastic art was on full display. New musical acts emerged, legends performed, festival-goers danced their hearts out. Along the way, we  met both Lucidity veterans and newbies alike who were all drawn to Lucidity's welcoming vibes for different reasons.

Here are some photos and stories of the wonderful people with whom we connected at Eudaimonia.

Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

Maya and Chloe (L to R) relaxed and made clay creations in the afternoon sun. The girls have been taking a ceramics class at Santa Barbara City College and were happy to get some more practice in and to work with the clay in the wide-open pastoral setting.“We were doing workshops yesterday and I saw today that someone brought out the wheel, I think his name is Kiran, he has like 250 pounds of clay up here so it’s just for anyone to use – it’s pretty cool.” 

Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

Waldo is a Santa Barbara local, “I really loved seeing this one act at Lover’s Nest yesterday, two women singing about love and connectivity, it was really beautiful. Christian Martin was also a sight to behold, he was so amazing.”

Fox is from San Francisco and was feeling the love of the gathering. Lucidity Festival cultivates a culture of kinship and friendship that truly lights up the world. “Last night was one of my favorites, just to have friends from all different areas and all walks of life to come together, people from the past and new friends all hanging out was a great feeling,” she said. “Oh and there was this Rasta band at Lover’s Nest and this guy was shaking his dreads around, I loved it, I love the live music.”

Healing, integrating, connecting is essential at Lucidity. Here, acro-yoga participants find the time to balance and release in between all of the amusement.

Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

In the spirit of Eudaimonia’s generosity and abundance, Grannie and Freddie shared their food of the gods (goat cheese, apples, and crackers) with us and other passerbys freely. “The sound on the main stage is quality, super dope, they had really awesome fire spinning too," Grannie said. "The gallery space was really cool, they had live music their super late, really cool space. Want some goat cheese?” 

Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

Sage (top) and Ella (bottom) were very happy to be immersed in the art of the weekend as they were artists in their own right. “Our art is super trippy. She does patterns like that shirt,” said Sage pointing to Darren’s hieroglyphic t-shirt. “I like to create pathways,” Ella began. “I like creating spaces to break up the corners you know? We like circular things.” Sage and Ella also make music that revolves around philosophy, oneness, and metaphysics.

The Nomad’s Nook tribe was out in full force. “Sleep? Sleep is for the weak,” they said.

"Jessica and Darius" Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

Jessica and Darius met when Darius worked in Philadelphia, this was their first Lucidity and first festival ever. “I was guided to come out to California and move from Philly to have all of these experiences,” said Jessica.

Darius was born and raised in Stockton, California and now they both live in Stockton together. “I came here first as a volunteer, this whole place is a university dude, from the moment you step on, if you come here for only the first three days of the festival there is so much you miss out on,” Darius said referring to the CourseWeek, a three-day pre-festival event that focuses on sustainability, art, body works, and energy healing classes.

Lizard (Raustyn Hurst) is a new DJ on the scene, she focuses on deep techno and house, her beats are gooey, and tasty and feature unique and eclectic samples. Here she was caught spinning at the Divine Species’ Jiggy Town stage. 

"Lucidity Family" Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

Ryan strolled the festival with his banjo in hand. His favorite show was Dirtwire.

Photo by: Derren Ohanian and Ana Cardenas (DNA Imagery)

Me. Embracing my spirit animal, the tiger, inside a galactic hangout.