Dance, Play, and The Way of the Lotus

Lotusland’s annual gala is undoubtedly one of the social highlights of the year with the 500 tickets sold-out months in advance.

This year’s 30th annual bash Lotusland Celebrates: The Way of the Lotus, co-chaired by the tony triumvirate of Merryl Brown, Ashley Adelson, and Lisa Bjornson Wolf, raised a whopping $1 million for critical support for the 37-acre 34,400 plant garden’s care and operations, sustainability programs, and conservation of rare and threatened plants.

Nearly 20% of the nonprofit public garden’s annual expenses.

Hosted by Montecito actress Jane Lynch of TV’s The Weakest Link, special guests included Chez Panisse restaurant owner Alice Waters, photographer Firooz Zahedi, art patron Beth DeWoody, magazine mogul Jennifer Smith, celebrity crimper Frédéric Fekkai, and film and TV personalities Joanna Kerns and Real Housewives star Dina Cantin, Bella Hahn, Xorin Balbes and Truman Davies, John and Connie Pearcy, Christopher Toomey, Mahri Kerley, and Robert Weinman.

Luminaro dancers brought the Reflective Pond in the Japanese Garden to life with ethereal grace, sitarist Esha Shrivastava added depth to the breathtaking display of blooming lotuses in the Water Garden, and in the Palmetum – Grounded, Works Inspired by, Connected to, and Reclaimed from Lotusland – showed the resilience of nature in a special exhibition featuring 17 regional artists.

A matching challenge from Lotusland Celebrates Champions Eric, former head of Google, and Wendy Schmidt for the philanthropic paddle raise contributed to the resounding success of the evening.

A blooming success indeed!