Russian rainbow. Rainbow festival in Russia
is an annual festival held in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
This is a social and artistic experiment, the foundations of which are laid in 10 main principles, including “radical” involvement in the life of the community, independence and self-expression, cooperation and reducing damage to the environment.
The festival was first held in 1986 at Baker Beach in San Francisco - then it was a very small event organized by Larry Harvey and a group of like-minded people. Since then, it has been held annually between the last Sunday of August and the first Monday of September: thus, Burning Man 2016 took place from August 28 to September 5.
Burning Man modern expression alternative culture, close in spirit to hippie events. The festival annually transforms a section of desert into real city with quaint campsites, art installations and artistically designed vehicles. Participants express their individuality through unusual and colorful costumes, which almost always include a protective mask and goggles - sandstorms are common in the desert.
According to rumors, with Burning man The idea of purchasing 4,000 acres of land and forming a permanent commune on this territory, living according to the principles and laws of the festival, is connected. Some sources name inventor Elon Musk and Google founder Sergey Brin as the initiators. Thus, at annual event there is every chance that one day it will turn into an endless holiday.
Oregon Country Fair
“The hippies didn’t disappear - they just moved to Oregon” - that’s what they say in this state, where there are almost more hippies than the rest of the population, and the attitude towards them is the friendliest. Special attention deserves the city of Eugene, which at one time became the second home for legendary rock band Grateful Dead.
Spent my time in Eugene student years and called it his hometown Ken Kesey, to whom a monument was erected here. Sculptural composition"Storyteller" depicts Kesey reading a book to his grandchildren.
The town of Veneta, 15 miles west of Eugene, is home to one of the premier hippie events each year, the Oregon Country Fair (OCF), a three-day fair that dates back to the heyday of the hippie movement in 1969. Organized to raise funds for the school, the costume fair grew into a center for alternative arts and performances and hosted Grateful Dead concerts in 1972 and 1982.
The Oregon Country Fair traditionally takes place on the second weekend of July. Here you can watch performances by musicians, artists and magicians, try delicious organic food, and purchase souvenirs, jewelry and handmade art objects.
Each year, the event, known for its countercultural bent and concern for... environment, visited by more than 45 thousand people.
Starwood Festival
The Starwood Festival is a seven-day neo-pagan festival celebrating cultural diversity, alternative lifestyles, spiritual practices and beliefs.
The 2016 event took place July 12-18 at the Wisteria Campground and Event Site in Pomeroy, Ohio.
Participants live on a campsite and participate in a variety of workshops, classes and ceremonies led by famous teachers. The workshops are divided into five groups: "New Frontiers", "Magic and Spirit", "Music, Rhythm and Movement", "Craft and Creativity", "Health and Healing" and include both esoteric guides and unexpectedly pragmatic courses like "Creating your own business."
There are also live music concerts of local talents and world-class performers. A week of dancing, playing drums and other instruments, presentations and other events, not last place among which is communication and exchange of experience with the most unusual people, crowns the bonfire, which traditionally gathers festival participants around it on Saturday night.
Rainbow Gathering
Rainbow Gathering is an annual gathering of like-minded people in many countries around the world. They follow the ideals of peace, love, respect, harmony, freedom and human unity and position themselves as an alternative to consumer society, capitalism and mass media dominance. Anyone can join the Rainbow Family.
The first Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes took place in Colorado in July 1972 and lasted four days, bringing together more than 20,000 people despite police protests. Since then, the event has been held regularly, bringing together all kinds of representatives of countercultural movements, New Age and hippies.
Their ideological roots can be found in utopian traditions of the XIX century - and in the “prophecies of the Hopi Indians”, predicting the appearance on the “sick” Earth of the “Rainbow Warriors” tribe, which will unite people different cultures who believe in action, not words, and will heal the world. Some consider the prophecy to be a journalistic fiction, but Indian rituals and traditions firmly formed the basis of the movement, which has since grown and absorbed ethnic characteristics many cultures.
Although local residents often have a negative attitude towards these gatherings, and since the 1980s the media has disparagingly called the Rainbow Family “aged hippies” and focuses on the most controversial aspects of the community - drugs, nudism, incidents, etc. - Rainbow Gatherings have existed for 40 years, remaining an international phenomenon.
Russian rainbow
Russian Rainbow is a regional offshoot of Rainbow Gathering and largest meeting hippies and other representatives of counterculture in Russia. It has been held since 1990 in different regions country and is quite different from its Western counterparts. In particular, this is in to a lesser extent an esoteric and New Age movement, and mostly just a tent camp of like-minded people with their own customs and traditions. Young people who believe in a harmonious world, universal human values, love and understanding, avid travelers and those who want to expand their horizons by breaking away from their usual environment gather here. Not all of the participants consider themselves hippies, but this event is definitely close in spirit to the festivals of the 1960s and 1970s.
Usually about 2-3 thousand people visit Rainbow every year. In addition to Rainbow, Russian hippies gather at the Empty Hills festivals, "Most often" , "InLakeEsh" and others.
Mystic Rising
The Mystic Rising festival appeared 17 years ago at Wellsprings Hot Springs in Ashland - all in the same “hippie paradise” of Oregon. Its key themes are healthy image life, environmental care, harmony, creativity and self-knowledge through spiritual practices. This year it will feature performances by Chris Berry & Bana Kuma Orchestra, Freedom Tribe, Jah Levi, Sasha “Butterfly”, Bhagavan Das and many others, and many master classes, ceremonies, dances and yoga classes will be organized. According to the organizers, the experience of attending various festivals, meetings and events and communicating with like-minded people can open up new horizons for participants, teach them to listen to themselves and live a brighter and healthier life.
Electric Forest
Electric Forest Festival is a four-day multi-genre event featuring mainly electronic and jam bands.
Since 2008, it has traditionally been held in Rothbury, Michigan, at the Double JJ Resort, and was originally called the Rothbury Festival. Although campers live at the campsite, the facilities are more than attractive, with a golf course, lake and water park nearby. The festival continues the psychedelic tradition established by Kesey's Acid Tests: those who were lucky enough to attend compare it to Alice in Wonderland and the films of Tim Burton. The neon lighting of the forest creates a hallucinogenic effect no worse than the notorious LSD and turns Electric Forest into a very atmospheric event.
In 2015, more than 45 thousand visitors came to the festival.
Beloved Festival
Another Oregon event is the musical Beloved Festival, taking place near the small town of Tidewater west of Corvallis. The festival lasts four days and is dedicated to all things “holy and divine.”
All of the upcoming bands, from the Total Experience Gospel Choir to DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid, can in one way or another be classified as forms of “sacred music” that serve to spiritual search and community unification. "The Rise of Electronic dance music in our time, it has become for millions of people the language of their people, place and time,” say the organizers.
Unlike most modern festivals, who organize concerts on several stages, at Beloved Festival there is only one stage. According to the organizers, the stage is the epicenter of the festival, which should accumulate energy throughout its entire length, instead of allowing it to dissipate in different directions.
The non-musical part of the festival is divided between different types experimental art. Famous writers, a series of lectures and events will be hosted by thinkers and artists with intriguing titles such as “The Quantum Activist's Guide to Social Entrepreneurship” and “Introducing Water.” And, of course, the festival program includes a wide variety of yoga classes.
Shangri-La
“Shangri-La is known as a mythical utopia and paradise on earth, a country isolated from the outside world, where people are forever young, forever happy and practically immortal. This is a place of great beauty and peace,” write the organizers of this festival, setting themselves the goal of transporting participants to this magical land for at least one weekend.
Wookiefoot, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Stick Figure, The Flobots, TAUK and others are on the list of performers who should turn three day festival into an unforgettable experience.
Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes (GOTV) is an annual four-day music and arts festival.
The festival goes back to the traditions of the legendary Grateful Dead, around which an entire Deadhead fan subculture was formed. The death of lead singer Jerry Garcia in 1995 was a blow to many fans, so the idea of a memorial concert called "Deadhead Heaven - A Gathering of the Tribe" was met with great enthusiasm and soon became the annual Gathering of the Vibes festival.
Since 1996, GOTV has featured a variety of rock, funk, bluegrass, jazz, reggae, R&B and folk bands. On the two main stages the music doesn't stop all day and most of the night, and if you walk around coastline, you can listen to the most talented performers Northeastern USA on the Green Vibes Stage.
In between concerts, you should check out the local Shakedown Street. These spaces, named after a Grateful Dead song, are found at many festivals - usually in parking lots. Historically, it was a place where Grateful Dead and Phish fans sold and traded all sorts of things, from clothing to drugs, to earn money for the next concert or gas to spend months on the road. In addition, such trade between festival participants played a unifying role, providing fans with a platform for communication and discussion. Now you can buy handmade souvenirs and art objects there.
The next Gathering of the Vibes festival will take place in 2017.
I am a big fan of various festivals held in nature (outside of halls and cities), and have visited dozens of them of different types (tourist, musical, esoteric, etc.). Quite a long time ago I visited, among others, the Rainbow party festivals, where various lovers of American Indians (they live in tipi-wigwams), hippies, Rastafarians and other unusual motley crowd gather. I haven’t gone to such events for a long time, but now, due to the time I have, I decided to study how they are doing.
(here and below are photos from the only European Rainbow, which the Europeans decided to hold on their own account in Russia in 1998, it was brutally dispersed by riot police, since then Westerners no longer hold such events in Russia. I shot it on a film camera, then I scanned them from photographs, so the clarity is not necessary, but that’s history :)
As it turns out, Rainbows have become so popular that they are expanding more and more. Until relatively recently (7-10 years ago), it was widely known about such an all-Russian festival (every year in a new region of the Russian Federation) and about a pan-European one (every year in new country Europe). There were also local Western European Rainbows, but none of our people usually went to them - they were far away and the language environment was uncomfortable (you arrive at an Italian one and don’t understand anyone, but they will still speak local). Well, there was (and is) a mythical world rainbow, which every year - new continent, and few people visit it due to its remoteness.
And now I’m looking at the Internet, and these rainbows have formed innumerably simply...
This year, in addition to the traditional Russian one, the East European Rainbow (common for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus) will be held for the first time - this is news. Moreover, it will take place in Ukraine, very convenient for Kiev residents and Muscovites - next to the Moscow-Kyiv M3 highway, which makes it easy to get there by foot or by train. Geographically, it is near Konotop - so getting there is quite easy. Here is the event website for those who need it: http://eurasia-rainbow.ecoby.info/. You can also find out information about this Rainbow here: http://vk.com/eurasia_rainbow_2012
Also, from the innovations, it turned out that a separate Ukrainian Rainbow was formed (takes place in Crimea, has already passed the deadline, was in early June), and a Belarusian Rainbow (it seems to be very small, will be in July).
Another interesting news is that they plan to organize a mini-rainbow in Mexico from December 1 to 31 this year (immediately after the world rainbow, which will be in Guatemala in November). Not only Anton Krotov and Co. will celebrate the end of the world according to the Mayan version this New Year under the pyramids, but the world’s partygoers also decided to organize a gathering, and also under the pyramids. Information about this event is here: http://www.facebook.com/events/62306258632/. So those traveling to Mexico can combine both events.
It is also curious that a Middle Eastern rainbow has formed (for Israel, Turkey, Iran, etc.) - this year in July it will be in... Georgia (which is unusual, this has never happened in the Caucasus).
For those who are interested in the topic, I can tell you a website where there is fresh information about all the rainbows that take place in the world:
http://rainbowforum.lightflower.org/ (in English, registration is required, but it takes a couple of minutes)
A rainbow Wikipedia in Russian also appeared: http://rainbow-wiki.ecoby.info/
Briefly about Rainbow:
"Rainbow" - a youth festival under open air, takes place annually in July in a place as far away from civilization as possible, every year in a new one. The ideology and organization of the Rainbow were borrowed from American hippies, who were guided by the traditions of collective living of an Indian tribe. The idea of unity with nature and people, the call for love and kindness, the forms of manifestation of these feelings and the corresponding way of life were transferred almost unchanged to Russian soil.
What is a Rainbow?
Once upon a time, back in 1972 in America, Rainbow was a hippie festival. Now here in Russia it is the Rainbow People festival, the people of the Rainbow. There are national Rainbows and one international one is held every year.
Is not music Festival, not an environmental congress, and certainly not a tourist gathering, although there is always live (only live!) music, they care about the condition of the surrounding forest and live in a tent camp. Sometimes, in the middle of a hot day, the festival resembles a small seal rookery - after all, there is no festival program. If you don’t want to do anything, don’t do it. By evening the camp comes to life, the music gets louder. Various things begin to happen - someone dances, someone sings, someone conducts seminars, sometimes on very serious topics. For example, a seminar on culture has become a good tradition of the festival ancient Ireland, accompanied by appropriate music and dancing. main idea- the absence of any clear plan of action, as a rule, everything happens spontaneously. Perhaps there are only three categorical prohibitions on Rainbow: alcohol, hard drugs and commercial activities. It's written on the invitation to the Rainbow. Invitation cards to the Rainbow begin to circulate from hand to hand in April-May.
This event is truly secret. Before last moment no one really knows where it will take place. Only after the first people have settled does the rumor telegraph spread the news to those who need to know. Usually there is a page on the Internet with contact addresses and telephone numbers. However, a serious “filter” (something like face control) is installed on all contact numbers that can be provided. Therefore, those who do not need to go to Rainbow do not get there.
Rainbow, strictly speaking, is not a festival at all. In English this is called gathering i.e. literally a gathering. Rainbow is a gathering of the most different people- hippies (old and new), environmental freaks, nudists, shamans of varying degrees of qualification, rock and techno punks, yogis, PCBs, people of various kinds eastern religions and also completely non-religious. Here you can meet all those who are interested alternative way survival. All this is called Rainbow for one reason - everyone present “makes a wish” for a rainbow and it appears.
About who is called to Rainbow, it was best said in the invitation to the very first festival: “... all races, peoples, tribes, communities, men, women, children, personalities - from Love; all nations and national leaders - out of Respect; all religions are from Faith; all politicians - from Mercy.”
Rainbow is a purely non-profit enterprise. No membership fees, no entrance tickets for the use of land, water or air. Cars, buses and similar means movement. In addition, it is not recommended to use electrical appliances, such as electric shavers. Even the music that constantly plays around is exclusively acoustic. In addition, dogs are not approved, as is litter.
Rainbow people have several principles - respect for each other, Mother Earth and especially waterways. All decisions are made on the so-called. paw wow or, more simply, veche. The form of government is a kind of tribal anarcism (tribal anarchy). In the central square of the camp, people gather around a fire that is always burning during the Rainbow and a flag in the colors of the rainbow twice a day. Anyone can speak out without regulations or time limits. According to the Indian tradition, the speaker takes a talking stick in his hand and rumbles about what seems relevant to him. Especially at the beginning, purely everyday topics arise. They are fed vegetarian food, consisting this time for the most part from porridges (or their mixes) with gravy and chipati (Indian flour flatbreads). Of the mixes, the combination of pearl barley, pasta and millet is perhaps not the most advantageous, but overall the food is very good. After this, a magic hat is carried through the rows. You should throw some money (if you have any) there, because they don’t charge for food and the volunteers working in the kitchen do it for free too.
Rainbow is the continuous sound of drums, tambourines, maracas and other percussion instruments, for example, bowls and spoons, which you use as a guide when looking for the way to the camp. The sound can be heard about a kilometer from Rainbow. This sound greets those who come, sees off those who leave, wakes up and puts to bed the People of the Rainbow. You get used to this sound, and then, when you return to the city, you get the feeling that something is missing.
History of the festival:
All Americans came up with this, and most likely a very long time ago. The fact is that the tradition, like the name, and many ideas of the movement were taken from North American Indians. They (the ideas) were taken by the Americans, perhaps by the hippies, who in 1972 held the first festival in Colorado, near Table Mountain. IN free country The USA, apparently, was also not encouraged independent organization recreation for young people, so the newborn festival faced many obstacles. But the Rainbow People successfully overcame them and, along mountain paths (there were barriers on the roads), finally came to the camp.
Since then, the North American Rainbow has been held annually. Soon the Rainbow people settled in Europe. Now the pan-European Rainbow is the culmination of the season (for the European Rainbow People, of course), and, as a rule, its closing.
In 1991, several people from Russia attended the European Rainbow, which took place in Poland. They brought the idea, but next year 1992 it was implemented. The Russian Rainbow now also takes place every year, and sometimes even manages to host two festivals in one summer - in the European part of the country and beyond the Urals.
Russian Rainbow:
- 1992 - Karelia
- 1993 - Myllyupelto Karelia
- 1996 - Ural
- 1997 - Kaftino
- 1998 - Mshinskaya
- 1999 - on the Sura River (Chuvashia)
- 2000 - on Lake Sevo - Pskov region
- 2001 - on the Nemda River, near Nezhitino - Kostroma region
- 2002 - on Lake Linen, near Big Ends- Novgorod region
- 2003 - on the Bolshaya Kokshaga River, near Ivan Belyak - Mari El
- 2004 - on Lake Asho - Pskov region
- 2005 - on the Nemda River, near Nezhitino - Kostroma region
- 2006 - near Kuokkaniemi - Karelia
- 2008 - The Last Rainbow took place from July 14 to August 7
- 2008 - in the Altai mountains
- 2009 - Pustoshka, Pskov region
- 2010 — Russian Rainbow 2010 took place July 4-24 in Nezhitino (Kostroma region)
