# Is the national rainbow gathering even worth going to?



## freegander

i've been on the road for a few months and i have a few months ahead of me. 

my initial plan was to go southwest, then up the west coast, probably making the national gathering in July. 

well, so far i've made it to colorado and there is still so much to see in the desert and California. if i follow my natural course, i will miss the gathering. 

but i really want to meet vermin supreme. 

so my question, for those who have been to the national gathering: is it any good? 

is it a time of genuine connection and epic jam sessions around the campfire, or do you have to be drugged up to enjoy it? 

thx


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## dumpster harpy

Is it good or is it bad?

That's pretty black and white.


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## freegander

I believe I used the word "cool" ; ) 

things you have to be drugged up to enjoy are not "bad", just not something I would go out of my way to add to this journey.

I'm asking for people's experiences. I really want to hear what people have to say and whether THEY had a good or bad experience or meh or okay or not particularly life giving but pretty decent or anything in between


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## Matt Derrick

so i haven't been to a rainbow gathering in quite some time, so feel free to take what i say with a grain of salt.

i've been to 2-3 nationals and about the same amount of regional gatherings, but i somehow always manage to show up late, so that might have skewed my opinion as well.

first the bad stuff, i mean i got giardia from a food camp there one year, and the year before that i got most of my gear stolen. so those both sucked ass. also, who jacks things out of someone's tent, especially a hoodie in the cold ass mountains? anyways, the nationals are the big big event so you'll get a LOT of shitheads that have no interest in the culture and just want to get 'free drugs and loose hippie pussy'. it seems that regionals, being smaller events are less susceptible to these kinds of people. also, from what i understand, a lot of the original elders are dying off, so i think there's been a changing of the guard and that's been affecting the event as a whole.

now i don't believe in hippie dippy spiritual crap, so there's going to be a lot of shit going on at rainbow that just doesn't interest me; if you feel the same, i don't think you're going to have that great of a time there. that said, what i really DO like is the individual camps at the gathering. anyone can start a camp about anything, so you get a lot of camps that are regional or theme-based (like free coffee camp) and i really liked going around to all the different camps and just meeting new people and other travelers. also, i've heard a lot of the events (that i always seem to miss somehow) are pretty wild and can get into a crazy party mode which might be interesting.

overall, while the rainbow gatherings have some kind of mission statement centered around ... well... hippie mother earth stuff, you're not going to actually see any of that in the gathering itself. which is unfortunate, and i feel like for the most part it's kinda lost it's way and for a long time hasn't really understood why it's doing what it's doing besides fueling hippie dead lot culture (imagine gutter punk hippies, that's 'dead lot' culture aka people that follow the grateful dead).

anyways, i really think it comes down to what you want to do there and where you find yourself on the scale from hippie to punk. if you're more of a punk ideology/culture/music wise, you're not going to have as much fun if you're a om-ing hippie seeking enlightment.

as for myself, i've been planning on giving it another go this year. my gf has never been and we have a lot of friends that are meeting up there. that said, we have a lot between us and then in the next three weeks (moab, yosemite, denver, driving up the 101,etc) that we might not make it in time because we're having too much fun (which sounds like your position as well). so if you miss it i wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you've never been, i'd also check it out. if you can't make the nationals, there's a regional gathering just about every month so i'd find one of those and go check that out.


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## tennesseejed

Rainbow has not been good to me, and alot of people I have known for years. Tons of shit stolen, and shady peeps.

I respect the goal and ideals, but as per usual, there are people to ruin it. Only takes a few bad eggs to fuck over good people.

I've heard it has been amazing in the past, but unfortunately I am too young to have experienced that.

That said, I must say rainbow is not without its merits. My advice: avoid any southeastern gatherings... (Ocala and acola, alot of violence.)

West coast gatherings are usually way different... more weed and less crazy shwilly peeps.

Edit: if you go, go right. Dig shitters, cook food, and just be a good person!

My 2cents


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## AaronOnTheRoad

freegander said:


> i've been on the road for a few months and i have a few months ahead of me.
> 
> my initial plan was to go southwest, then up the west coast, probably making the national gathering in July.
> 
> well, so far i've made it to colorado and there is still so much to see in the desert and California. if i follow my natural course, i will miss the gathering.
> 
> but i really want to meet vermin supreme.
> 
> so my question, for those who have been to the national gathering: is it any good?
> 
> is it a time of genuine connection and epic jam sessions around the campfire, or do you have to be drugged up to enjoy it?
> 
> thx


Me and another stp member might go


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## autumn

Matt Derrick said:


> so i haven't been to a rainbow gathering in quite some time, so feel free to take what i say with a grain of salt.
> 
> i've been to 2-3 nationals and about the same amount of regional gatherings, but i somehow always manage to show up late, so that might have skewed my opinion as well.
> 
> first the bad stuff, i mean i got giardia from a food camp there one year, and the year before that i got most of my gear stolen. so those both sucked ass. also, who jacks things out of someone's tent, especially a hoodie in the cold ass mountains? anyways, the nationals are the big big event so you'll get a LOT of shitheads that have no interest in the culture and just want to get 'free drugs and loose hippie pussy'. it seems that regionals, being smaller events are less susceptible to these kinds of people. also, from what i understand, a lot of the original elders are dying off, so i think there's been a changing of the guard and that's been affecting the event as a whole.
> 
> now i don't believe in hippie dippy spiritual crap, so there's going to be a lot of shit going on at rainbow that just doesn't interest me; if you feel the same, i don't think you're going to have that great of a time there. that said, what i really DO like is the individual camps at the gathering. anyone can start a camp about anything, so you get a lot of camps that are regional or theme-based (like free coffee camp) and i really liked going around to all the different camps and just meeting new people and other travelers. also, i've heard a lot of the events (that i always seem to miss somehow) are pretty wild and can get into a crazy party mode which might be interesting.
> 
> overall, while the rainbow gatherings have some kind of mission statement centered around ... well... hippie mother earth stuff, you're not going to actually see any of that in the gathering itself. which is unfortunate, and i feel like for the most part it's kinda lost it's way and for a long time hasn't really understood why it's doing what it's doing besides fueling hippie dead lot culture (imagine gutter punk hippies, that's 'dead lot' culture aka people that follow the grateful dead).
> 
> anyways, i really think it comes down to what you want to do there and where you find yourself on the scale from hippie to punk. if you're more of a punk ideology/culture/music wise, you're not going to have as much fun if you're a om-ing hippie seeking enlightment.
> 
> as for myself, i've been planning on giving it another go this year. my gf has never been and we have a lot of friends that are meeting up there. that said, we have a lot between us and then in the next three weeks (moab, yosemite, denver, driving up the 101,etc) that we might not make it in time because we're having too much fun (which sounds like your position as well). so if you miss it i wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you've never been, i'd also check it out. if you can't make the nationals, there's a regional gathering just about every month so i'd find one of those and go check that out.



This has been my experience as well. If you're a spiritual hippie, you'll fit right in. If not, you might find yourself a little underwhelmed. The nationals are huge and it attracts plenty of people that would otherwise never be at a rainbow gathering, so you have a range of people between full blown deepak chopra/terrence mckenna "are they reptilians or ghosts" hippies and shithead misogynistic dudebros. Not very exciting.

That being said, it can be fun with the right people. I wouldn't go by myself, but I would expect to have fun if we were meeting up with Matt at quasi-camp stp. Just keep a close eye on your stuff and avoid research chemicals. We were going to go this year but probably won't make it in time, and I'm not broken up about it. If you're having fun elsewhere, I would just hit a regional sometime later in the year.


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## sd40chef

I've had a really amazing experience at a gathering in northern Tasmania a couple of years ago with @Swamp womp . Not sure how big it was. somewhere between 150-200 people I'd have to guess, from all over this planet. Really nice rivecr running through that everyone would swim in and we would drink the water straight from the river upstream from where we swam. Lots of workshops going on everyday, at morning food circle everyone announced what they wanted to get done that day or any workshop they wanted to host. Things varied from yoga/meditation, philosophy, craftmaking, open discussions about various topics, basically anything people wanted to share. Lots of singing, dancing, love and nudity as can be imagined from a mental portrayal of such gatherings  . I didn't attend many workshops at the time as I was quite insecure/judgemental perhaps inside in regards to alot of was going on, and was using weed as a coping mechanism/escape from reality, but since have opened up much and accepted things. Dug some shit pits, cut firewood, and helped cut vegetables and help prepare meals. Would definitely attend again. From what i've been told from others, gatherings in North America usually bear a negative emotion/experience, whereas oceania/europe/south america/asia/africa gatherings seem generally to be better. My best judgement would have to be with people having better/purer intentions and less judgemental of others and more loving and caring. It's up to the population of the gathering to create the feeling/experience.


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## spectacular

I went to the one in Utah in 2013. Food was good and I scored some shrooms. Lines for food were ridiculously long and there were so many people it kinda felt like being in a crowded city where people ask you for the shit in your pockets and to jam with them on the spot. If that sounds like heaven then you might like it. I found the slow motion degradation of the environment a bit distressing and also heard about a couple of stabbings in hobo camp. People were getting naked around the campfire and drumming, singing, dancing all night til 8am. Drunken naked frisbee. Definitely a trip, for what it's worth.


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## Naked Lilies

I haven't been to a national yet (hopefully that will be rectified shortly). So take my words with a grain of salt as well. I've been to one regional so far, and hope to hit up another in North Carolina in a couple days. I think the reason for going all depends on your motivations. I love to people watch, and you get that in spades.

I didn't get my shit jacked, but that's probably due to the relative size of the gathering and the fact that I slept in my car the whole time. I don't plan to do that this gathering, so who knows. But I try to have backups of the important items like cold weather gear. It also seems to me like a lot of that depends on how close you stay to front gate (i.e. the closer you are to the drunks. Go figure.)

The hippie nonsense does flow in overabundance, so if you have a low tolerance you might have a bad time. I got my ear talked off by a dude I rode in with about how California hippies are the highest of the holies and Haight Ashbury is the ultimate spiritual mecca. Also something incoherent about the Jews being the 1%, which is why they're the smartest beings on the planets. The last thing I expected was to encounter all the "hippier than thou" posturing.

Having said that, it takes all kinds. I met a lot of cool people and really enjoyed my time. The individual camps are where it's at. If you find one you like and spend all your time there, you can easily forget about the rest of the drama. Which is why a STP camp would be stellar. I personally know a couple kitchens who plan to be at nationals, so I'll probably be spending my time between them.


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## marmar

My first time at the rainbow happened to be at world gathering in bc Canada. It was in total around 200-300 people, but all from all over the world, I think it was counted to 26 counties. So it was very diverse and cool to meet people from everywhere and it was a good experience, I enjoyed. A couple years later I decided to check out the USA national one and it was so different. Because there were like 5-7 thousand people, total bummer, felt like I was in the city crowd taken to the woods. Yes, hanging out at a small camp or a few is cool, but in general the amount of people made me a bit uncomfortable. 
I'm trying to find a regional gathering this year to check out.


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## Mongo

Nathan Liles said:


> The hippie nonsense does flow in overabundance, so if you have a low tolerance you might have a bad time. I got my ear talked off by a dude I rode in with about how California hippies are the highest of the holies and Haight Ashbury is the ultimate spiritual mecca. Also something incoherent about the Jews being the 1%, which is why they're the smartest beings on the planets. The last thing I expected was to encounter all the "hippier than thou" posturing.



Was the guy talking your ear off a blonde guy named michael?


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## Naked Lilies

Mongo said:


> Was the guy talking your ear off a blonde guy named michael?


I see his reputation precedes him.

Did he also warn you about the power of his right hand to make people move faster?


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## Mongo

Nathan Liles said:


> I see his reputation precedes him.
> 
> Did he also warn you about the power of his right hand to make people move faster?



Hahahaha

I met him at a L.O.C. show in petaluma a few years ago. I gave him a ride back to oakland and let him stay on my couch. He seemed completeley normal in person but i added him on facebook and he just constantly posts poetry and ramblings about religion and how jews are ethereal high beings.


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## Naked Lilies

Mongo said:


> Hahahaha
> 
> I met him at a L.O.C. show in petaluma a few years ago. I gave him a ride back to oakland and let him stay on my couch. He seemed completeley normal in person but i added him on facebook and he just constantly posts poetry and ramblings about religion and how jews are ethereal high beings.



I think he's making his way out there again lol. He's a nice enough dude. Harmlessly entertaining, really. But the religious ramblings and efforts to play Grateful Dead nonstop as loud as possible were starting to give me a headache.


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## freegander

thanks for the responses, everyone! i find your perspectives very valuable and insightful. 

how would i go about finding a regional gathering? are there any happening in the next few months?


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## Naked Lilies

freegander said:


> thanks for the responses, everyone! i find your perspectives very valuable and insightful.
> 
> how would i go about finding a regional gathering? are there any happening in the next few months?


I've had a lot of good luck with facebook. If you search for state + "rainbow gathering" and filter on groups/pages, you should find something useful. People usually crosspost too, so once you're subscribed to one, you'll learn about others.


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## WeekendWarrior88

It depends on you, what you're looking for, and what kind of mood you would have there. Also, it depends on what you end up being surrounded by while you're there. If I went there, I have no idea if it would be worth it or not, until I was there, or afterward, but I would spend most of my time volunteering, and with other volunteers. Or I might try to start a jam session, or join one. Or look around for some yoga/meditation/tai chi workshops. Or teach music theory, or teach how to play an instrument.

However, there's a lot of people that sit around a "bliss pit" 24/7 campfire, inhaling too much campfire smoke, smoking cigarettes, rolling in the dirt, drinking too much gritty black coffee, and that's a miserable way to be at a rainbow gathering. If you're easily swayed by temptation, easily depressed, don't like doing things by yourself, don't have much experience to contribute, then it's a real gamble of whether you'd have a good time or a bad time.

I went to a Nationals in Washington, I think in 2011, I had an kinda okay but overall depressing time, but today I would do it differently. A couple years after I was there, I met a gal that said she was abducted from the town she lived in, and brought out there, held captive for two weeks, drugged, and raped. That's the worst thing I've ever heard about gatherings, but it's not a direct result of gatherings, it's what happens when the right conditions for lawlessness are provided. This is another reason why volunteers are welcome, there are opportunities where moral obligations are more difficult to pursue than usual, you're probably out of cell service, if you're going to call for help, you can't dial 911. Also, a confident knowledge of sanitation, first aid, cpr, and health is highly valuable.


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