FESTIVAL REUNITES `RAINBOW FAMILY'

Some 16,000 Self-Described Hippies Gather Deep In
Forest To Pray For Peace Today

MODOC NATIONAL FOREST - Lucky Sunshine Day says he arrived at this
year's Rainbow Family Gathering ``a moon cycle ago,'' measuring time
much as he has the 20 years of his life.

As a child, he traveled to the Gatherings aboard a Rainbow bus with
his parents, Flower and Two Rock. This year, he hitched a ride to the
event, deep into the woods of Northern California.

``It's about love, it's about community, it's about family,'' he said.
``We're here to restore the earth to its natural state.''

This year's annual peace gathering got off to a bad start when one
participant beat another nearly to death with a shovel for driving too
fast through a campground.

But that was an aberration for an event where violations generally
involve recreational drugs, occasional nudity or an unleashed dog,
said participants and law enforcement officials, who have had a
running 30-year dispute over policing the event.

The counterculture festival reaches its high point today when more
than 16,000 self-described hippies from at least 40 states and eight
nations are expected to hold hands in a circle, silently praying for
world peace from dawn until noon.

This year's Gathering is being held in an area of hills and meadows in
the Modoc National Forest, 26 miles over rough gravel roads from the
tiny town of Likely.

Some of the ``road dogs'' -- Rainbows who travel constantly between
events with no permanent home or job -- had been in the area for
weeks, helping set up the camp, and will spend weeks more cleaning
up.

Others, the ``weekend hippies,'' were likely to arrive in Audis,
Volvos or sport-utility vehicles after pulling out tie-dyed T-shirts
and Grateful Dead stickers for the occasion.

``You find a vast segment of society here, from lawyers to people who
are living on the street trying to get along,'' said Happy, 46, who
like most participants gave only his Rainbow name.

``Everybody with a bellybutton is a Rainbow. Some people just don't
know it yet,'' said Sarieah, cradling her 2 1/2-year-old daughter
Zakiaya on her hip.

For some, the event is a religious experience.

``While other people are shooting off fireworks, we're praying for
world peace,'' said Faith, a 29-year-old midwife from Texas. ``My hair
is standing on edge just thinking about it.''

For others, it's a party in the woods.

Marijuana is omnipresent, though alcohol is discouraged. The reason is
that thousands of drunken hippies are a riot waiting to happen, while
thousands of stoned hippies are merely mellow, explained Glowing
Feather, a Vietnam veteran who has been a Rainbow since the first
event in 1972.

Though donations are accepted, the food is free, served communally at
kitchens each with their own specialty: organic food, vegetarian,
vegan, Hare Krishna fare, coffee, even a bakery -- the only place
where drumming is discouraged because the cakes might fall.

The U.S. Forest Service has been trying to regulate the Rainbows'
activities since the first Gathering in 1972, but only since last year
has it succeeded in issuing the group a group-use permit for what
previously had been officially illegal events.

The Forest Service has budgeted $720,000 for a National Incident
Management Team to oversee this year's event in much the same way the
service would react to a large wildfire, though overall costs will run
much higher.