The Summer of 1967
You’ve probably heard, or possibly even hummed songs like San Francisco by Scott McKenzie, Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane, California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & Papas, and many other that have become classics.
What all of them have in common is that they marked the summer of 1967.
The social phenomenon that occurred in San Francisco, more precisely in the district of Haight-Ashbury, where over a hundred thousand people gathered, brought about a cultural revolution that extended across the globe. This neighborhood in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Park became the center of the flower power revolution that spread like a tidal wave. Free-spirited young people forever changed the history of the rigid and puritanical United States, and soon of Europe.
That was the summer when music, fashion, literature, design, painting, or in one word, art, changed. People danced in the streets with flowers in their hair, the parks were full of hippies, and the world looked on in wonder at the anti-war protests that spread peace and free love.
Fifty years have gone by, but San Francisco has maintained that spirit to this day.
“The Summer of Love”
is the name of the year-long celebration that will mark the year 2017. Events will be taking place all over the city. One of the central locations will be the tourist mecca Pier 39. Tulipmania is planned for February, when 39,000 tulips will be planted along the wooden pier, and a peace sign made of flowers placed in the West Park. A great 60s party with a Beatles cover band will be organized on June 23.
Haight-Ashbury will be hosting numerous street festivals with dancing and local specialities. Several sailing regattas are planned to take place in the bay and at the ocean. A special attraction is the Folsom Street Fair on September 25, billed as the world’s biggest leather fetish festival. A similar event celebrating the rights of the LGBT community and the summer of love will take place in Castro Street on November 2.
In addition to all of this, there will also be a large number of exhibitions on art, fashion, rock’n’roll, hippies, and 1967 photography.
This year, San Francisco, as one of the most free and fun cities in the world, is offering good times and interesting events.
When you add to this top gastronomy with seafood delicacies and excellent wines from the nearby Napa Valley, there are few places that can offer more. Don’t forget that California is more or less the fifth-ranking economy in the world, which means there is a lot to be learned there.
