Same Same but Different: EDM Festival Offers Free Passes to Ticket Holders of Canceled Lucidity Festival

Lucidity, the music festival that electrified Santa Barbara’s Live Oak Campground for the past decade, is close to bankrupt. 

Last month, the festival organizers released a statement announcing there will be no festival next year, and, to the dismay of many frustrated ticket holders, no refunds. But, thanks to a sister festival, fans will have the opportunity to take their tickets elsewhere. 

“After more than a decade of shared memories, healing, and dreaming, our journey together is coming to an end. Despite our best efforts, we have been forced to make the difficult decision to close our doors and cease operations,” Lucidity organizers wrote in an August Facebook post.

Nothing is written in stone yet, though, said Lucidity Festival Director Ron Glover. They are trying to find ways to “stay solvent and stay alive,” potentially with new investors, and were “trying to work refunds out” as of earlier this month. 

“We don’t want to go out of business,” Glover told the Independent. However, the festival was “hit pretty hard” by their forced cancellation this June due to fire and safety concerns. 

For years, the family-friendly festival delivered dream-like experiences, featuring musical artists, performers, workshops, art, and oracles. Usually, it was held in April, but intense rains led organizers to move it to June, which is a time of high fire risk for the campground venue. The new date came with new county safety requirements that the festival could not accommodate. 

This year’s festival, themed “Aurora’s Light,” was initially rescheduled to next year at a new location in Monterey County. 

However, the financial challenges that stacked up since their pandemic-related cancellations in 2020 and 2021 proved “insurmountable” for the festival’s organizers, making the 2024 postponement one they “could not financially recover from” after months of delays and logistical hurdles, according to the festival’s Facebook page.

When faced with past money troubles — such as production costs increasing post-COVID —  organizers said they sacrificed their own compensation, and the company took on debt to pay employees and contractors.

However, this year, they bit off more than they could chew. The festival uses revenue from ticket sales — passes range from about $50 to $240 — to produce upcoming events, and the postponement gave way to more refund requests than they could afford. 

Much of this year’s ticket revenue was already spent on production costs, leaving the organizers with little to reimburse. They also claim that they were unable to obtain event cancellation insurance by the time of postponement. 

“We understand the trust you placed in us when you purchased your tickets, and it deeply saddens us to inform you that we are unable to provide refunds,” the organizers said on Facebook, followed by statements of regret and assurances that they “exhausted every possible option to avoid this outcome,” including seeking grants and donations. 

If they can’t find an “angel investor” to save the festival — or some other miracle solution — the company will have to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If they do, a third party will work on liquidating all assets and fulfilling any debts— such as to ticket holders. 

“There are no bad actors here, just bad circumstances,” organizers said. 

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel: Same Same But Different (SSBD), a sister festival, is offering free GA tickets to their 2024 event this September 27-29 at Lake Perris State Park to Lucidity ticket holders. According to a press release from SSBD, it shares no financial ties with Lucidity and is “extending the offer purely as a gesture of goodwill.”

Fans looking to claim their free pass to SSBD 2024 can submit this form along with proof of their Lucidity ticket purchase. Find out more about the festival here.

Even with its contentious end, Lucidity will still be missed by many. 

“Over the years, it has grown to be much more than just a festival,” organizers said. “Our Lucid Family expanded with each gathering. We bonded around the ceremonial fire where elders from diverse nations imparted their wisdom and traditions. Lucid children were born, engagements and marriages celebrated, birthday parties and sobriety milestones honored, and some of the most eye-opening moments of our lives unfolded within our community.”