• The Summer of Love refers to the summer of 1967, when an extraordinary gathering of 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco,
  • It created a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion.
  • It caused many ‘ordinary citizens’ to begin questioning everything and anything about them and their environment.
  • You might recognize this event as the “Hippie Revolution”
  • Hippies did gather in other places like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and across Europe
  • But San Francisco was the epicenter of this revolution,
  • College and high-school students began streaming into the Haight during the spring break of 1967. The government was afraid that mass of students would go as soon as summer break starts so some schools tried to delay the vacation and this caught media attention and caused more people to join.
  • And they believed they could change the world. Live in a place where there is peace so basically a Utopia.
  • It was a naive dream but during that summer it seemed possible.
  • People would use LSD and marijuana in the middle of the park
  • Sexual freedom was a key, and people would make love in public and there was nothing weird to that because many did it.
  • It was a magical time for rock music, which expanded in many directions aided by the use of LSD and pot, some music were openly against the war in Vietnam.
  • The song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” written by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas and sung by Scott McKenzie was initially designed to promote the Monterey Pop Festival.

“If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…If you’re going to San Francisco,
Summertime will be a love-in there”

  • “San Francisco” became an instant hit (#4 in the U. S., #1 in the UK) and quickly transcended its original purpose by popularizing an idealized image of San Francisco.
  • It was a clash between old and new
  • This video of Jeff Lynne’s (ELO) lovely song ‘One Summer Dream’, as that title so neatly describes The Summer Of Love. hopefully gives a flavour of that heady time.