Rainbow Family
The Rainbow Family of Living Light (commonly shortened to the Rainbow Family) is a loosely affiliated group of individuals committed to principles of non-violence and egalitarianism. They put on peaceable assemblies/free speech events known as Rainbow Gatherings.
Origins and practices
The Rainbow Family was created out of the Vortex I gathering at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon (30 miles south of Portland, Oregon) from August 28 to September 3, 1970. Inspired in large part by the first Woodstock Festival, two attendees at Vortex, Barry "Plunker" Adams and Garrick Beck are both considered among the founders of the Rainbow Family. Adams emerged from the Haight-Ashbury scene in San Francisco, and is the author of Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? Beck is the son of Julian Beck, founder of The Living Theatre, known for their production Paradise Now!
The first official Rainbow Family Gathering was held in Strawberry Lake, Colorado, on the Continental Divide, in 1972. Use of this site was offered by Paul Geisendorfer, a local developer, after a court order was issued against their gathering at the original location on nearby Table Mountain.