Celebrate the «Summer of Love» all over again

2017 marks the 50th Anniversary of the «Summer of Love» with a yearlong celebration of San Francisco’s counter culture - with a 1960’s throwback including exhibitions, performances, literary events, tribute concerts and recognition of significant moments in time.

Yes, it's already been 50 years... The city of San Francisco served as a magnet for musicians, artists and social rebels in the mid-to-late Sixties. They created a counterculture bound by leftist politics, tribal spirit, music and art. Long stamped a literary bohemia, attracting nonconformists like the Beat Generation writers of the 50s, it seemed inevitable that free-thinking San Francisco would give birth to a radical new movement eventually embraced by the rest of the world.

The start to the «Summer of Love» actually came at the «Human Be-In» Festival at Golden Gate Park on January 14, 1967. The gathering of approximately 30'000 people at the Be-In helped publicize hippie fashions; the musical «Hair» originated on the festival, and Timothy Leary coined the famous hippie manifesto «turn on, tune in, drop out» there. As youth from all over America and the world poured into the hippie San Francisco neihgbourhood Haight-Ashbury, a proper movement was established which could no longer be laughed off as small and subversive.

The movement gained further traction with the release of Scott McKenzie's song «If you're going to San Francisco (be sure to wear some flowers in your hear)», released on May 13, 1967, and an instant success. Of course, the protests again the ongoing Vietnam war were another unifying factor. Further notable events of that summer were the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival (June 10/11), the Monterey International Pop Festival tfeaturing the new generation of bands from San Francisco, Los Angeles and London (June 16-18), the Summer Solstice Celebration of June 21, which came to be regarded as the official start of the «Summer of Love», and the founding of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic by Dr. David Smith, on July 7.

The cultural utopia imploded soon, notably because San Francisco could not accommodate the massive influx of people wanting to partake in the sex, drugs and rock n'roll. Homelessness, drug problems and crime ensued.

A multitude of events

As mentioned, various events will be held to celebrate the famous summer of 1967 throughout the year. Notably, the de Young Museum will present various exhibitions, as will the SFO Museum and many other cultural institutions, among which the California Historical Society with its photographic exhibition «On the Road to the Summer of Love», guest-curated by Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally. Concerts, block parties, new mural paintings, special film series, fairs and more will be completing the festival agenda. As there are too many events to publish here, find an updated list and trip ideas under the following link: www.summeroflove2017.com. Peace, man!