SALT LAKE CITY – Authorities are bracing for nudity, drugs and general free-spiritedness during a counterculture gathering that began near Salt Lake City this week, compelling a pair of nearby Mormon church-owned girls’ summer camps to move elsewhere.
The first attendees are setting up camp at the annual Rainbow Family gathering, where attendance is expected to total about 10,000. They have begun building kitchens and setting up tents in advance of their July 4 celebration.
Most visitors have come without incident through the closest town of Heber City, said Wasatch County Sheriff’s Deputy Jared Rigby. Some revelers have already crashed a nearby wedding reception in search of food.
“We don’t deal with a lot of panhandling, people asking for handouts,” Rigby said. “We don’t have a lot of lewdness or public urination.”
For the most part, participants have cooperated with officials, asking how they can limit their toll on the land at the spot about 40 miles east of Salt Lake City, said Dave Whittekiend of the Forest Service.
“People have approached and asked, ‘How can we be lighter on the ground; how can we minimize those impacts?’” he said.
The Rainbow Family has no official leaders and no one website or member list. Its creed revolves around nonviolence, inclusiveness and praying for peace, according to a number of websites asserting ties to the group.
The gatherings take the name “rainbow” because they aim to incorporate a spectrum of people and cultures, says one website.
