Thousands of people are expected to descend on a remote section of the White Mountains next month as part of the Rainbow Family of Living Light’s annual gathering.
The group — which doesn’t have a leadership structure, or even consider itself a formal organization — selected a gathering spot in the Kilkenny area of the forest, west of the city of Berlin, for its 51st annual event slated to begin July 1.
Rainbow gatherings draw together a mix of people spreading a message of kindness and love, as well as self-sufficiency and freedom. The week-long event typically reaches its zenith on July 4, when attendees join together to issue a prayer for peace.
“You’ll be surprised who shows up,” said Michael Niman, a journalism professor and author of People of the Rainbow, a 1997 book about the gatherings. “You look in the parking lot: Some people arrive in BMWs, some people, still in 2023, will have arrived having hitchhiked.”
The first Rainbow gathering was staged in 1972, at a time of deep unrest in the country, according to Niman. The event was modeled in part after the Woodstock music festival, but without headlining bands, tickets or commercial involvement. Since then, the festival has evolved in some ways, but has stayed true to its resistance of commerce and embrace of collective problem solving.
The gatherings also present a headache for U.S. Forest Service personnel, who have spent years attempting to mitigate the impact of the annual festival on natural settings. Local towns and stores can become overrun with the sudden influx of visitors, while parking and traffic headaches can impact others seeking to use that area of the forest.
The Forest Service treats the events as “incidents,” and noted in a press release this week that the Rainbow Family has traditionally declined to obtain the necessary permits for gatherings of 75 or more people on national forest lands. Law enforcement officers will be on site throughout the event, the Forest Service said, to work with attendees on minimizing their impact.
“Just like anytime you go to the National Forest, all forest visitors should be obeying all laws and regulations, and we are there to ensure that that is happening,” said Hilary Markin, a Forest Service spokesperson.
Rainbow gatherings have faced criticism for the impact the large crowds have on delicate ecosystems. Campfires, dug latrines and new walking paths can all temporarily disrupt natural settings. Markin said the Forest Service works with attendees to monitor the placement and size of latrines, as well as to limit the human impact on the environment.
Water for the event is often pulled from nearby streams or ponds, though at gatherings in the past it has also been brought in from outside, Markin said. Attendees arrange for their own trash removal, with some volunteers staying after the weeklong event ends to clean the grounds.
During the gathering, attendees will fan out in the forest, setting up various camps and kitchens that serve donated food. Drum circles, drugs and workshopson everything from fermentation to basket weaving fill the days and nights.
The government’s attempts to regulate gatherings – from drug sweeps to permitting rules – have faced pushback from civil liberties activists, including the ACLU of Vermont, which raised concerns about law enforcement’s treatment of attendees at the 2016 annual event in that state.
Rainbow gatherings have also faced criticism from Native American and other indigenousgroups for their use of what some consider faux rituals, as well as impact on the land. Niman said that’s an “absolutely valid criticism” and something he wrote about in People of the Rainbow.
For participants, some of whom will travel from across the country to the White Mountains in the coming weeks, the gathering will serve as a reunion, as well as a chance to break free from the demands of modern society, if only for a week.
Niman said one attendee told him that gatherings are a chance to encounter “old friends they haven’t yet met.”
