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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, June 12, 2009
Rainbow Gathering Will Be in N.M. This Summer
By Charles D. Brunt
Journal Staff Writer
Santa Fe National Forest officials and Cuba merchants are bracing for an influx of thousands of devotees during the 2009 Annual Rainbow Gathering of Living Light to be held July 1-7, possibly near Cuba.
In keeping with the group's philosophy of having no leaders, no structure, no official spokespeople, no official documents and no paid organizers, there has been no definitive announcement about the location of the gathering — which draws thousands to a different national forest each year.
But an advance group known as the Spring Council is gathering in the forest southeast of Cuba this week to collectively agree where to hold the six-day gathering.
Rainbow gatherings typically espouse peace, love, harmony, freedom and community as alternatives to mainstream culture and consumerism.
Forest Service officials have known since November that the gathering would be held in New Mexico, said Lawrence Lujan, a spokesman for the Santa Fe National Forest.
“Just because they're migrating there doesn't mean that that's where the (gathering) site is going to be,” Lujan said. “What they have before the big national gathering is what they called the Spring Council. That's where folks come and decide where the national gathering will be held. So what they're having in Cuba right now this week is their Spring Council meeting.
“It could be here on the Santa Fe National Forest; it could be on the Carson National Forest. We don't know yet,” he said.
He said officials expect 7,000 to 10,000 participants at the gathering.
Two unofficial Rainbow Gathering Web sites have posted the location of the Spring Council meeting. The sites say that once a location is announced, a “Seed Camp” will begin, and volunteers will create the infrastructure to support the gathering.
Meanwhile, the village of Cuba is trying to prepare for the anticipated tsunami of revelers.
Mickey Herrera, owner of Mickey's Save-Way Market, said his family-owned business is looking forward to the increased traffic and customers.
“It will be very good for Save-Way,” Herrera said Thursday. “We've been here 60 years and we've met all kinds of people and we welcome everyone.”
Herrera said he would order extra staples leading up to the event.
Business has already increased, he said. “What I've been seeing here is we'll get a group of 20 or 30 come in and buy their stuff, then another group will come in the next day or so. But I'm real happy with them. We don't have anything to worry about.”
“I don't know that Cuba is ready for that many people,” Cuba Mayor Richard Velarde told KOAT-TV on Wednesday, saying his community doesn't have a lot of resources for a crowd that size. “I just need to make sure the health and safety of people are taken care of.”
Lujan said Forest Service officials have been working with Rainbow representatives on needed permits, even though the group historically has opted against obtaining them.
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