page_title: Rainbow Family
section_title: The Gatherings
hierarchical_section_title: Rainbow Family / The Gatherings
caption_attribution_description: Photo taken 2005 Rainbow Gathering, Cranberry, WV, at Richwood
context_page_description: The Rainbow Family of Living Light is a counter-culture, in existence since approximately 1970. It is a loose affiliation of individuals, some nomadic, generally asserting that it has no leader. They put on yearly, primitive camping events on public land known as Rainbow Gatherings.
context_section_description: All Rainbow Gatherings are held with an open invitation to people of all walks of life, and of all beliefs, to share experiences, love, dance, music, food, drugs and learning.
  The Rainbow Family is most widely known for its large annual American Gatherings (i.e., U.S. "Nationals" or "Annuals") which are held on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (or B.L.M.) land. These U.S. Annual Gatherings usually attract between 8,000 and 20,000 participants.
  In addition to these larger U.S. Annuals, individuals practice this throughout the year in dozens of other countries. "World Gatherings" are also held from time to time in various countries. Other activities include regional Gatherings (or Regionals) and retreats. There are also small, local activities such as local drum circles, potlucks, music related events, and campouts.
  The first European Rainbow gathering took place in 1983. In 1992, American immigrants organized the first Rainbow gathering in Israel, which was extended to six weeks. 
  Money is not used (or not encouraged), camps set up kitchens to share food, and there is a circle on the Fourth of July to pray for peace.
  The Forest Service Incident Management team cost federal taxpayers $750,000 in 2006  (this cost is for 'monitoring' of the Rainbows), and the team handled the Gathering in Colorado that year and other large events in National Forests. By comparison, the Burning Man festival, unconnected to the Rainbow Gatherings, is a commercial venture that operates each year in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada and pays the Bureau of Land Management $750,000 for a permit, recouping the cost by charging attendees between $210 and $360. The Rainbow Family asserts that being charged $750,000 dollars to gather peaceably on National Forest Land is a violation of their First Amendment rights, and that the event is free to all members of the public.
  After the Rainbow Gathering visited the National Forest near the town of Richwood, West Virginia, in 2005, Mayor Bob Henry Baber stated: "I never saw one bit of any activity that required any Forest Service legal intervention." He calls the Incident Management Team "bizarre and unnecessary," and adds that his town was not put off by the Rainbows or their behavior.
  Controversies over the Rainbow Family's 1987 Gathering are discussed in the book Judge Dave and the Rainbow People.
caption: Banner hung days before the 2005 Rainbow Gathering by the inhabitants of Richwood, West Virginia, welcoming attendees
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