Travel Ideas

The Rainbow gatherings are like an alternate vision of how we could live. The Rainbow gatherings are not really a festival, they’re an event that you’re responsible for the moment you decide to go. Everyone is an organiser and it’s up to everyone to make sure that everything works. There is no commerce involved and all the food is paid for via donations in the Magic Hat.

You’ll rarely have such a strange, enigmatic few weeks as in the Rainbow and you’ll meet a greater variety of people than you would in one space anywhere on the planet. Perfect grist to the mill for the traveler.

Just bring a tent or very good sleeping bag, instruments and a big bag of weed.
In the US they’re often enormous events can reach the population of small towns, requiring massive organisation and permission from local authorities.

In Europe the European Rainbow Gathering is in a different country each year and you have to have your head to the ground to know where it will be next.

Essentially, the Rainbow Gathering is where a few thousand hippies, freaks, travelers and people who like living out of doors come together to build a temporary village for a full cycle of the moon.

The European Gathering tends to attract 3000-5000 people at the height of festivities at the full moon and the scale of the organisation rather depends on which branch of the European Rainbow family was responsible for sorting things out.

Check our guide to the Rainbow Gatherings and check dates for upcoming gatherings at welcomehome.org

Roadjunky also has a list of the upcoming gatherings of 2009

Follow Road Junky on Twitter for live updates @roadjunky

Back to Top - More Travel Ideas Articles - Print this page