Rainbow Family

The Rainbow Family of Living Light (commonly shortened to the Rainbow Family) is a loosely affiliated group of individuals committed to principles of non-violence and egalitarianism. They put on peaceable assemblies/free speech events known as Rainbow Gatherings.

The Rainbow Family was created out of the Vortex I gathering at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon (30 miles south of Portland, Oregon) from August 28 to September 3, 1970. Inspired in large part by the first Woodstock Festival, two attendees at Vortex, Barry "Plunker" Adams and Garrick Beck are both considered among the founders of the Rainbow Family. Adams emerged from the Haight-Ashbury scene in San Francisco, and is the author of Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? Beck is the son of Julian Beck, founder of The Living Theatre, known for their production Paradise Now!

The first official Rainbow Family Gathering was held in Strawberry Lake, Colorado, on the Continental Divide, in 1972. Use of this site was offered by Paul Geisendorfer, a local developer, after a court order was issued against their gathering at the original location on nearby Table Mountain.

Regional Rainbow Gatherings are held throughout the year in the United States, as are annual and regional gatherings in dozens of other countries. These Gatherings are non-commercial, and all who wish to attend peacefully are welcome to participate. There are no leaders, and traditionally the Gatherings last for a week, with the primary focus being on gathering on public land on the Fourth of July in the U.S., when attendees pray, meditate, and/or observe silence in a group effort to focus on World Peace. Most gatherings elsewhere in the world last a month from new moon to new moon, with the full moon being the peak celebration. Rainbow Gatherings emphasize a spiritual focus towards peace, love, and unity.

Those who attend Rainbow Gatherings usually share an interest in intentional communities, ecology, New Age spirituality and entheogens. Attendees refer to one another as "brother", "sister", or the gender neutral term, "sibling." Attendance is open to all interested parties and decisions are reached through group meetings leading to some form of group consensus. Adherents call the camp "Rainbowland" and, in an appropriation of Rastafarian customs, refer to the world outside of gatherings as "Babylon." The exchange of money is frowned upon, and barter stressed as an alternative.

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