Although one might generally classify the people there as "hippies", it's not unusual to run into doctors, lawyers, electrical engineers as easily as poets, artists and other Bohemian types. It's truly from all walks of life, a rainbow nation dedicated to walking lightly upon the earth and not wanting to cause harm to living things, including Mother Earth. The event itself is free to all who enter but you are strongly encouraged to participate in all the logistics of putting on an event of this magnitude. This includes working in the kitchens to prepare food, cook food, clean pots and pans, serve food, collect and chop firewood, haul water and supplies, build a stage, make a supply run, dig latrines and a thousand other things that could come up in the course of a day.

You also are expected to bring supplies not just for yourself but to contribute to the "magic hat". This means not only green energy (dollars), but food (grains, veggies, fruits, teas, coffee...), medical supplies, candles, clothes...I've seen truckloads of watermelons and produce delivered by generous donors. It always seems miraculous to me how sometimes tens of thousands of people can be fed continuously solely on the generousness of those wishing to give. And we're not talking bare necessities here, the kitchens often provide incredibly delicious meals with plenty for all and no matter what time of the day or night, there's always a kitchen somewhere serving food. "Popcorn Palace" is a wonderful treat to stumble on in the dark woods at night, the "Sprout Garden" is fun to graze in, and watch out for the "Cosmic Flying Eyeball Medicinal Tea Vortex", "Kickapoo Kitchen" has killer pancakes for breakfast, "Instant Soup" cranks it out and keeps our bellies warm and full.

The kitchens are numerous and have colorful names like "Granola Funk", "Lovin' Ovens", "Green and Purple", "Musical Veggies", "Aloha", "N.E.R.F.", "S.C.R.O.L.L.", and "Sundog". There are kitchens which serve only tea or coffee or just chai but most others prepare a wide variety of foods. Sometimes the kitchens themselves sponsor events which can range from a simple drumming circle to a full-blown production including music, acting, and a large cast of players. If you're lucky, you can find pizza being cooked at 2 AM, or "zuzus" (rainbow slang for sweets) at 3. Despite eating well and often enough at the gatherings, I often come home weighing a few pounds lighter. It's probably the lack of high-fat content foods and the predominance of natural, unprocessed foods that are the standard fare at the gatherings.

Many of the encampments have common interests and sense of vision such as, "Healing Arts Yoga", "Maya Camp", "Gypsy Camp", "Kind Loving Vibrations", "Faerie Camp", "Jesus Camp", "Jagnasty Industrial Wasteland Refugees", "Cyber Camp", and "Footbaggers For Peace".

Each day, a meeting is held to discuss all aspects of the gathering. This is the political structure which is based upon general consensus. Again, all are encouraged to participate. I've often sat in on these meetings just to get a sense of what goes on to keep it all going. Sometimes the debate can get heated and I've heard tales of how the gathering had been swayed into directions by willful individuals that were seen by others as detrimental to the welfare of the rainbow collective. There's also a group that meets daily to fulfill security needs and get a handle on "rumor control". This is called "Shanti Sena" and is an open meeting for those willing to lend their assistance in this manner.

It's not unusual to be walking along, look someone in the eyes and you both smile, stop to talk and before you know it, an hour has gone by in deep communion with a kindred spirit. This is a place where people call each other brother and sister and are not afraid of sharing many aspects of themselves, although they might have never met before. This is a world unlike that outside of the safe space created from the loving intent of similar-minded people. At one gathering I went to, someone offered me some homeopathic medicine for a bad ankle sprain that hindered me from walking too much. They saw me limping down the trail in the dark and we agreed to meet the next day at a specific kitchen in order for me to pick up the medicine. I consequently forgot and it wasn't until I was walking by many hours later the next day that someone from the kitchen also noticed me limping, and asked my name. The person had left the medicine there for me and instructions as to who to give it to. People were looking out for me and I had never even met them! And the beautiful thing about this is that it happens all the time like that there. I see the Rainbow gathering as an experiment in social structure. We're changing the paradigm of how we relate to each other in a most profound way. I see this as a precursor to the future of our Earth family.

There are, of course, downsides to being at a gathering. There's "A" Camp to contend with (A for alcoholic, no alcohol allowed so they have a separate camp on the fringes of the gathering and are generally known to be rowdy and troublesome), plenty of "drainbows" (often homeless, on the road; sometimes dirty, smelly, and contributing very little or nothing in the way of resources to the group), occasionally ripoffs, mosquitos and chiggers (hey, you're camping, not renting a motel room), usually too many dogs (for my liking anyway) that like to travel in small packs and are often at main circle at dinnertime, police harassment into and out of the gathering, but very little violence. If a bad attitude erupts, often a group will spontaneously gather and shower them with love and defuse a situation that could have turned ugly. No weapons are allowed into "the Church" and if a policeman or park ranger walks in with one, they are politely but persistently asked to remove their weapon until they do it or leave. For me, the good outweighs the bad and I've never had to contend with any major hassles. On the contrary, most of my experiences with "Rainbows" have been friendly and positive.