Rainbow Gathering 2006

All Photos Credits to: Gabe Kircheimer

DIRECTIONS 2006: From Steamboat Springs: Follow rt 40 west out of town. Turn north at the light on rt 129, and follow this to Clark (last stop for gas). Continue on CR 129 another 12 miles to FS 550. Turn right (east) on FS 550 and follow this for 3.7 miles to FS 500. Turn right on FS 500 and continue another 2.6 miles to FS 505. Turn right onto FS 505, and continue 0.3 miles to bus village and parking.
Welcome Home & Drive Safely!!!

01 - Lots of drumming, dancing,
performances and spontaneous merrymaking.

02 - This is the Kid's Parade from the Fourth of July. Early on July Fourth morning, folks gather in a huge silent circle in one of the meadows in or next to the encampment. The silent meditation lasts thru the morning until "Rainbow Noon" when the children from Kid Village parade into the silence with bells, whistles, ribbons, costumes...effectively ending the silence and beginning an afternoon of music and celebration.

03 - Another view of the July Fourth,
1999 celebration.

04 - Here's a Rainbow over the tipi village in Wyoming, 1994. Tipi Village, or Tipi Circle is a regular part of the Gatherings.

06 - Dinner circle from 1999 in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania

07 - In 1994 we put out an adjacent forest fire with a bucket brigade made
up of thousands of people.

08 - By the creek at the Nevada Gathering there were Sweat Lodges - both traditional and non-traditional - for cleansing and spiritual purification. On hot days nudity and skinny dipping are just normal.

09 - Pageants, dances, chanting,
ceremonies of all kinds.

10 - There's a bus village for live-in vehicles.

Everybody welcome!! Everything free!!

Yoga meadows, African dance, healing circles, drum circles, community kitchens, acoustic music, pageants, campfires...

The 35th annual Rainbow Gathering will be held July 1 – 7 near Steamboat Springs, Colorado (see directions at bottom of page).. Set-up begins June 21, but peak activities are July 1-7. MORE INFO.

You could call it the Largest, Free Form, Non-Authoritarian Village on Earth. Free and non-commercial. Bring food and joy to share, but sales of anything are discouraged, and in fact illegal on National Forest lands.

Bring your musical instruments. There are dozens of acoustic woodland stages, and lots of jammin'. And drums. Huge, All-nite drum circles. Hundreds of drums and wild dancing around a "boogie meadow" firepit.

Kiddie Village with art events, nature learning, woodland skills teaching, and crafts, as well as cooperative childcare, kid foods, & entertainment.

On the Fourth of July, beginning at dawn, there's a Meditation for Peace in one of the main meadows of the gathering...the whole encampment grows quiet - except at Kid Village where the huge flock of children are dressing up and facepainting for the Kid's Parade that ends the silence at about High Noon.

Things to bring: Raingear, warm clothing, your own cup, bowl and spoon, sleeping gear, warm things (nites can get cold high in the mountains). Bags to carry out trash. There's a medical area called C.A.L.M. and many other cooperatively-run social services.

Lots of booths promoting all kinds of environmental, social, humanitarian causes, so if you have a cause, bring your banner, bring your literature, set up along one of the many interconnecting trails, sign up volunteers for your cause!

No admission charge. Parking is Free, food is Free, beverages are Free, health care is Free, entertainment is Free -- and so are You!

Click on photos to enlarge and for downloads

All Photos Credits to: Gabe Kircheimer