The annual Rainbow Gathering of Living Light will be held July
1-7 in the Heart’s Content Area of the Allegheny National
Forest

This marks the 38th gathering of the Rainbow Family of Living
Light to date, and the third time the “freeform celebration of
Spirit and community” will take place on the Allegheny, according
to the group’s website.

The Rainbow Tribe, as it is also known, espoused online that the
event is open to “all peaceful peoples and devoid of all commercial
interests” and is a time when individuals and ‘free-form counsels’
“form community through passively shared ‘traditions’ of love for
the Earth (and) pray for peace.”

Approximately 10,000 “non-members of the non-organization,” as
they term themselves on their website, are expected by forest
officials to set up camp in the southwest corner of Warren County
over the Fourth of July holiday.

“We’re guessing about 10,000 people will come this year, but
previous gatherings of the Rainbow People have attracted upwards of
20,000,” Allegheny National Forest spokesperson Kathy Mohney said
on Wednesday. “We don’t expect that many this year, just from
indications from what recent populations have been at gatherings of
the Rainbow people elsewhere.”

The family or “disorganization,” as the members sometimes refer
to it, encourages attendees to only bring necessities and “keep
their gathering Karma clean (and) natural by coming self-sufficient
with some to share,” as well as to try not to leave a trace of
their presence by picking up all litter and treading lightly on the
land.

In fact, according to the website, the gathering of “living
light” is a double-entendre, meaning to “live with little mass or
impact on the environment” and that the rainbow represents “living
light making up the full spectrum of ‘hue-manity’ (whereby) many
hands make ‘light’ work.”

Mohney said officials with the Allegheny are currently making
preparations for the “impact that comes from the influx of that
large of an amount of people to one area at one time.

“We never had any major issues in the past when they were here
in 1986 and 1999, but of course, any big group of people like that
represents a large cross-section of society,” she continued. “Our
first priority is to have a safe gathering for the public, Forest
Service employees and members of the Rainbow Family.”

Also, Mohney said forest personnel are working with various
police agencies to minimize impact of the gathering to community
medical services, law enforcement, volunteer fire departments and
businesses.

“Local forest officials have teamed up with the National
Incident Management team on site at our office to work together to
manage the gathering,” Mohney said. “Specialties on the team
include professionals in law enforcement, safety and health, and
community relations, as well as resource management professionals —
resource protection is key, although all are important.”

However, the Rainbow People have their own medical unit on site
and usually do their best to “take care of their own” and mind to
themselves, according to Mohney.

“Anyone with a belly button may consider themselves part of the
Rainbow Family, and even a belly button is not really needed,” the
Rainbow Tribe espoused via the Internet.