View source for Summer of Love

{{Short description|1967 social phenomenon in San Francisco}}
{{About||the concurrent period of the 1967 race riots|Long hot summer of 1967|other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox historical event
| Event_Name = Summer of Love
| partof = the [[Counterculture of the 1960s]] and the [[History of the hippie movement|hippie movement]]
| Image_Name = KFRC Fantasy Fair Dryden Balin Kantner.png
| Imagesize = 310px
| Image_Alt = 
| Image_Caption = [[Spencer Dryden]], [[Marty Balin]], and [[Paul Kantner]] of [[Jefferson Airplane]] performing at the [[Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival|Fantasy Fair]], early June 1967
| Thumb_Time = 
| AKA = 
| Participants = ~100,000 (estimated)
| Location = [[Haight-Ashbury]], [[Golden Gate Park]], [[San Francisco]]
| Date = 1967
| nongregorian = 
| Deaths = 
| Result = {{bulleted list |A surge in 1960s counterculture in the United States |Inspiration for the [[Second Summer of Love]] in the United Kingdom in 1988}}
| URL = 
}}
The '''Summer of Love''' was a major social phenomenon that occurred in [[San Francisco]] during the '''summer of 1967'''. As many as 100,000 people, mostly young people, [[Hippie|hippies]], [[Beatnik|beatniks]], and [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counterculture]] figures, converged in San Francisco's [[Haight-Ashbury]] district and [[Golden Gate Park]].<ref>E. Vulliamy, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/may/20/popandrock.features8 "Love and Haight"], ''Observer Music Monthly'' May 20, 2007</ref><ref>P. Braunstein, and M.Doyle (eds), ''Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s and '70s'', (New York, 2002), p. 7.</ref>  

More broadly, the Summer of Love encompassed hippie culture, spiritual awakening, hallucinogenic drugs, anti-war sentiment, and [[free love]] throughout the [[West Coast of the United States]], and as far away as [[New York City]].<ref name="selvin-SoL">
*{{cite book |last1=Selvin |first1=Joel |title=Summer of Love The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love, and High Times in the Wild West |date=1999 |publisher=Cooper Square Press |isbn=9780815410195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2acEAAAACAAJ}}
*{{cite web |last1=Selvin |first1=Joel |last2=Young |first2=Malcolm C. |author1-link=Joel Selvin |title=The Summer of Love |url=https://vimeo.com/221501955 |website=The Forum at Grace Cathedral |publisher=[[Grace Cathedral, San Francisco]] |language=en |date=June 11, 2017 |via=[[vimeo]] |quote=}}
*{{cite web |last1=Selvin |first1=Joel |last2=Young |first2=Malcolm C. |author1-link=Joel Selvin |title=The Summer of Love |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3TLTBOpisY  |website=The Forum at Grace Cathedral |publisher=[[Grace Cathedral, San Francisco]] |language=en |date=June 11, 2017 |quote=With the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love sparking celebrations and events throughout San Francisco, we invite the New York Times best-selling author of Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild West and former San Francisco Chronicle senior pop music critic Joel Selvin to offer his insights into the lasting impact of the 1967 cultural revolution that was born in the Haight-Ashbury. |via=[[YouTube]]}}
*{{cite book|title=The Summer of Love: Haight-Ashbury at Its Highest |author=Gene Anthony |date=1980 |publisher=John Libbey Eurotext |isbn=0867194219 |url=http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/summer_of_love.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606015037/http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/summer_of_love.pdf |archive-date=June 6, 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Hinckley/> An episode of the [[PBS]] documentary series ''[[American Experience]]'' referred to the Summer of Love as "the largest migration of young people in the history of America".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2ZExRNT0GU |title=Chapter 1 {{!}} Summer of Love {{!}} American Experience {{!}} PBS |language=en |access-date=2024-04-15 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

Hippies, sometimes called [[Flower child|flower children]], were an eclectic group. Many [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|opposed the Vietnam War]], were [[Anti-statism|suspicious of government]], and [[Anti-consumerism|rejected consumerist values]]. In the United States, counterculture groups rejected [[Suburb|suburbia]] and the [[American way]] and instead opted for a communal lifestyle. Some hippies were active in political organization, whereas others were passive and more concerned with art (music, painting, poetry in particular) or spiritual and meditative practices.<ref name=Hinckley>{{cite news|last=Hinckley|first=David|title=Groovy The Summer Of Love, 1967|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/groovy-summer-love-1967-article-1.806459|access-date=September 28, 2012|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=October 15, 1998|archive-date=February 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202100925/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/groovy-summer-love-1967-article-1.806459|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many hippies took interest in [[Outline of ancient India|ancient Indian]] religions, such as [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]].

== Background ==
=== Culture of San Francisco ===
[[File:Junction of Haight and Ashbury.jpg|thumb|upright|Intersection of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, the upper Haight neighborhood, San Francisco, celebrated as the central location of the Summer of Love]]

Inspired by [[Jack Kerouac]]{{'}}s ''[[On the Road]]''<ref name="selvin-SoL"/> (1957) and the [[Beat Generation]] of authors of the 1950s, who had flourished in the [[North Beach, San Francisco|North Beach]] area of San Francisco, those who gathered in Haight-Ashbury during 1967 allegedly rejected the conformist and materialist values of modern life and adhered to the [[psychedelic]] movement; there was an emphasis on sharing and community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smith.edu/artmuseum/On-View/Past-Exhibitions/Summer-of-Love/Counterculture|title=Counterculture|website=Smith.edu|language=en-US|access-date=August 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816150322/https://www.smith.edu/artmuseum/On-View/Past-Exhibitions/Summer-of-Love/Counterculture|archive-date=August 16, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Diggers (theater)|Diggers]] established a Free Store, and [[Haight Ashbury Free Clinics]] was founded on June 7, 1967, where medical treatment was provided.<ref>M. Isserman, and M. Kazin (eds), ''America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s'', (Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 151–172.</ref>

===Human Be-In and inspiration===
{{Main|Human Be-In}}
The prelude to the Summer of Love was a celebration known as the [[Human Be-In]] at [[Golden Gate Park]] on January 14, 1967,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/may/27/escape|title=What was the summer of love?|date=May 26, 2007|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 16, 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> which was produced and organized by artist [[Michael Bowen (artist)|Michael Bowen]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfmuseum.net/hist1/rock.html |title=Chronology of San Francisco Rock 1965–1969 |access-date=November 1, 2008 |publisher=Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beatsupernovarasa.com/beatpics/bp000151.html |title=Copy of Certificate of Honor presented to Michael Bowen |access-date=November 1, 2008 |publisher=City and County of San Francisco  |date=September 2, 2007 }}</ref><ref>T.H. Anderson, ''The Movement and the Sixties: Protest in America from Greensboro to Wounded Knee'', (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 172.</ref>

It was at this event that [[Timothy Leary]] voiced his phrase, "[[turn on, tune in, drop out]]".<ref name="long magazine">{{cite magazine|last=Weller|first=Sheila|title=Suddenly That Summer|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=July 2012|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/lsd-drugs-summer-of-love-sixties|access-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> This phrase helped shape the entire hippie counterculture, as it voiced the key ideas of 1960s rebellion. These ideas included experimenting with [[psychedelics]], communal living, political decentralization, and dropping out of society. The term "dropping out" became popular among many high school and college students, many of whom would abandon their conventional education for a summer or more of hippie culture.

The event was announced by the Haight-Ashbury's hippie newspaper, the ''[[San Francisco Oracle]]'':

<blockquote>A new concept of celebration beneath the human underground must emerge, become conscious, and be shared, so a revolution can be formed with a renaissance of compassion, awareness, and love, and the revelation of unity for all mankind.<ref>''San Francisco Oracle'', vol. 1, issue 5, p. 2.</ref></blockquote>

The gathering of approximately 30,000 at the Human Be-In helped publicize hippie fashions.<ref>T. Gitlin, ''[[The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage]]'', (New York, 1993), p. 215.</ref>

===Planning===
The term "Summer of Love" originated with the formation of the ''Council for the Summer of Love'' during the spring of 1967 as a response to the convergence of young people on the Haight-Ashbury district. The council was composed of the [[Family Dog Productions|Family Dog]] hippie commune, The Straight Theatre, The Diggers, ''[[San Francisco Oracle|The San Francisco Oracle]]'', and approximately 25 other people, who sought to alleviate some of the problems anticipated from the influx of young people expected during the summer. The council also assisted the Free Clinic and organized housing, food, sanitation, music and arts, along with maintaining coordination with local churches and other social groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.summeroflove.org/event.html|title=About this event...|author=Chet Helms|work=Summer of Love|access-date=March 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228023419/http://www.summeroflove.org/event.html|archive-date=February 28, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Psychedelic poster artist Bob Schnepf was commissioned by Chet Helms to create the official Summer of Love poster, which became a lasting icon of the era.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 21, 2017|title=The secret messages of San Francisco's Summer of Love|url=https://theweek.com/captured/712354/secret-messages-san-franciscos-summer-love|website=[[The Week]]}}</ref>

==Beginning==
[[File:Mounted policemen watch a Vietnam War protest march in San Francisco, April 1967.jpg|thumb|''[[Spring Mobilization against the War in Vietnam]]'' march, from Second and Market Street to [[Kezar Stadium]], looking towards [[San Francisco City Hall|City Hall]], on Fulton Street, in [[San Francisco]], on [[National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam#April 15, 1967, demonstrations|April 15, 1967]]<ref name="CHS-SoL-Vietnam">{{cite web |title=Vietnam |url=https://summerof.love/vietnam-summer-love/ |website=SummerOf.Love |publisher=CHS |access-date=18 May 2022 |date=14 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="lib.berkeley.edu-Spring-Mobilization">{{cite web |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Julie |title=Arrival of the Mobe |url=https://update.lib.berkeley.edu/2017/04/14/arrival-of-the-mobe/ |website=UC Berkeley Library Update |access-date=18 May 2022 |date=14 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="foundsf-antiwar-March-1967-04-15">{{cite web |title=1967 Antiwar March |url=https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=File:SF-antiwar-March.jpg |website=Found SF |access-date=18 May 2022 |quote=Anti-Vietnam war demonstrators fill Fulton Street in San Francisco on April 15, 1967. The five-mile march through the city would end with a peace rally at Kezar Stadium. In the background is San Francisco City Hall. (AP Photo)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Vietnam War Protest March to Kezar Stadium |url=https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/215304 |website=[[Bay Area Television Archive]] |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="sfmuseum-rock-1965-1969">{{cite web |title=Chronology of San Francisco Rock 1965–1969 |url=https://sfmuseum.org/hist1/rock.html |website=sfmuseum.org |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref>]]

===Youth arrivals===
[[College#Origin of the U.S. usage|College]] students, [[High school (North America)|high school]] students, and [[Runaway (dependent)|runaways]] began streaming into the Haight during the [[spring break]] of 1967. [[John F. Shelley]], the then-[[Mayor of San Francisco]] and the [[San Francisco Board of Supervisors]],<ref name="selvin-SoL"/> determined to stop the influx of young people once schools ended for the summer, unwittingly brought additional attention to the scene, and a series of articles in the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' and ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' alerted the national media to the hippies' growing numbers.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} By spring, some Haight-Ashbury organizations including [[Diggers (theater)|Diggers]] theater and about 25 residents<ref name="Helms-SummerOfLove-About">{{cite web |last1=Helms |first1=Chet |author1-link=Chet Helms |title=About this event... |url=http://www.summeroflove.org/event.html |website=SummerOfLove.org |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref> responded by forming the ''Council of the Summer of Love'', giving the event a name.<ref name="PBS timeline"/><ref name="CHS-SoL-1967-04-06">{{cite web |title=#Onthisday In 1967, The Words "Summer Of Love" Were First Used In The San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://summerof.love/onthisday-1967-words-summer-love-first-used-san-francisco-chronicle/ |website=Summer of Love |publisher=[[California Historical Society]] |access-date=18 May 2022 |date=6 April 2017}}</ref>

<blockquote>"You only had to walk out your door to join the fun"—[[Mike Lafavore]]<!-- Michael J. Lafavore (born April 28, 1952) Deering High School; University of Maine; --><ref name="aarp-summer-of-love">{{cite news |last1=Love |first1=Robert |title=A Look Back at the Summer of Love |url=https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2017/remembering-the-summer-of-love-50th-anniversary.html |access-date=18 May 2022 |work=[[AARP]] |language=english}}</ref></blockquote>

===Popularization===
The media's coverage of hippie afflux in the Haight-Ashbury drew the attention of youth from all over America. [[Hunter S. Thompson]] termed the district "Hashbury" in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]''.
On February 6, 1967, [[Newsweek]] printed a four-page four-color article titled "Dropouts on a Mission".<ref name="sfchronicle-phrase-SoL">{{cite news |last1=Whiting |first1=Sam |title=Tracing the lineage of the phrase "Summer of Love" |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/music/article/Tracing-the-lineage-of-the-phrase-Summer-of-10987734.php |access-date=18 May 2022 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=10 March 2017 |location=[[San Francisco]]}}</ref>
On March 17, 1967, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine printed an article "Love on Haight".<ref name="sfchronicle-phrase-SoL"/>
On June 6, 1967, ''[[Newsweek]]'' printed "The Hippies are Coming".<ref name="sfchronicle-phrase-SoL"/>
The activities in the area were reported almost daily.<ref>T. Anderson, ''The Movement and the Sixties: Protest in America from Greensboro to Wounded Knee'', (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 174.</ref>

The event was also reported by the counterculture's own media, particularly the ''San Francisco Oracle'', the pass-around readership of which is thought to have exceeded a half-million people that summer,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/sfeature/oracle.html |title=Summer of Love: Underground News |access-date=May 15, 2007 |work=PBS American Experience companion website |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014103317/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/sfeature/oracle.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the ''[[Berkeley Barb]]''.

The media's reportage of the "counterculture" included other events in California, such as the [[Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival]] in Marin County and the [[Monterey Pop Festival]], both during June 1967. As many as 40,000 people may have attended the Magic Mountain festival.<ref>Shannon, Bob (2009). Turn It Up! American Radio Tales 1946–1996. austrianmonk publishing. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-61584-545-3.</ref> At Monterey, approximately 30,000 people gathered for the first day of the music festival, with the number increasing to 60,000 on the final day.<ref>T. Anderson, ''The Movement and the Sixties: Protest in America from Greensboro to Wounded Knee'', (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 175.</ref> Additionally, media coverage of the Monterey Pop Festival facilitated the Summer of Love as large numbers of hippies traveled to California to hear favorite bands such as [[the Who]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[the Animals]], [[Jefferson Airplane]], [[Quicksilver Messenger Service]], [[the Jimi Hendrix Experience]], [[Otis Redding]], [[the Byrds]], and [[Big Brother and the Holding Company]] featuring [[Janis Joplin]].<ref>T. Gitlin, ''The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage'', (New York, 1993), pp. 215–217.</ref>

In August of 1967, [[George Harrison]] visited San Francisco to visit the group of Haight-Ashbury hippies. He walked around the area strumming his guitar and interacted with the group. Many of the hippies asked him questions and were very excited to meet him as well as feeling that they had a kinship to him.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bach |first=Damon R |title=The American Counterculture: A History of Hippies and Cultural Dissidents |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=2020 |pages=94, 134}}</ref> He later described this experience in not the best light, as to him this environment was horrible and filled with bums.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joe |date=1967-08-07 |title=The Beatles Bible - George Harrison visits Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco |url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/1967/08/07/george-harrison-visits-haight-ashbury-san-francisco/ |access-date=2025-10-09 |website=The Beatles Bible |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==="San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"===
The musician [[John Phillips (musician)|John Phillips]] of the band [[the Mamas & the Papas]] wrote the song "[[San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)]]" for his friend [[Scott McKenzie]]. It served to promote both the [[Monterey Pop Festival]] that Phillips was helping to organize, and to popularize the [[flower children]] of San Francisco.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sRi0nUYmYfMC&pg=PA225 |title=Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of 'Mama' Cass Elliot |author=Eddi Fiegel |pages=225–226|access-date=August 5, 2013|isbn=9780330487511 |year=2006 |publisher=Pan Books }}</ref> Released on May 13, 1967, the song was an instant success. By the week ending July 1, 1967, it reached number four on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in the United States, where it remained for four consecutive weeks.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=415}}</ref> Meanwhile, the song charted at number one in the United Kingdom and much of Europe. The single is purported to have sold more than 7 million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kearth101.radio.com/2011/08/05/did-you-you-san-francisco-be-sure-to-wear-flowers-in-your-hair-by-scott-mckenzie/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816065313/http://kearth101.radio.com/2011/08/05/did-you-you-san-francisco-be-sure-to-wear-flowers-in-your-hair-by-scott-mckenzie/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 16, 2011|title=Did You You: "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" By Scott McKenzie|publisher=[[CBS Radio]]|last=Carson|first=Jim|date=August 5, 2011|access-date=February 24, 2012}}</ref>

=== The Diggers ===
The radical activist group called The [[Diggers (theater)|Diggers]] embedded themselves in San Francisco in 1966. This group were anarchists that wanted to help other youth find liberation in this city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Talbot |first=David |title=Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love |publisher=Free Press |year=2014 |location=New York City, New York |pages=50}}</ref> In addition to their free store, this group created a free publication called "[[The Digger Papers]]," where they spread their message further.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Digger Papers 68 |url=https://www.diggers.org/digger_papers.htm |access-date=2025-10-09 |website=www.diggers.org}}</ref> In "The Digger Papers," the group provided information on resources for food, shelter, drug use, and human rights information. Their crucial message in San Francisco is to define a free society, everything they created or endorsed was free, and to further their messages about life and how to live it.<ref name=":0" />

== Events ==
{{Love sidebar}}

=== New York City ===
In Manhattan, near the Greenwich Village neighborhood, during a concert in [[Tompkins Square Park]] on [[Memorial Day]] of 1967, some police officers asked for the music's volume to be reduced.<ref name=Hinckley /> In response, some people in the crowd threw various objects, and 38 arrests ensued.<ref name=Hinckley /> A debate about the "threat of the hippie" ensued between Mayor [[John Lindsay]] and Police Commissioner [[Howard R. Leary]].<ref name=Hinckley /> After this event, Allan Katzman, the editor of the ''[[East Village Other]]'', predicted that 50,000 hippies would enter the area for the summer.<ref name=Hinckley /><ref>[[The Lampshade: A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans|Mark Jacobson]] [http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2007/33987/ Long Hot Summer of Love] in New York, from ''New York'' magazine</ref> 

=== California ===
Double in size of the Tompkins Square Park concert, as many as 100,000 young people from around the world flocked to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, as well as to nearby [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] and to other [[San Francisco Bay Area]] cities, to join in a popularized version of the hippie culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.net.info.nl/cohen/|title=Allen Cohen: San Francisco Oracle, Human-Be-IN, History of the Haight-Ashbury|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030301191305/http://www.net.info.nl/cohen/|archive-date=1 March 2003}}</ref> A [[Haight Ashbury Free Clinics|Free Clinic]] was established for free medical treatment, and a [[Give-away shop|Free Store]] gave away basic necessities without charge to anyone who needed them.<ref name="American Experience doc"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flavorwire.com/606202/gelatin-silver-portraits-from-the-summer-of-love-in-1967|title=Gelatin Silver Portraits from the Summer of Love in 1967|website=Flavorwire.com|date=May 27, 2017 |access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fubiz.net/en/2017/06/23/photographs-of-hippie-culture-in-san-francisco-by-elaine-mayes-2/|title=Photographs of Hippie Culture in San Francisco by Elaine Mayes|website=Fubiz.net|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/348677196135471950/|title=The band performing at Fantasy Fair in early June 1967.... &#124; Jefferson Airplane & friends &#124; Jefferson airplane, Jefferson starship, Grace slick|website=Pinterest.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref>

The Summer of Love attracted a wide range of people of various ages: teenagers and college students drawn by their peers and the allure of joining an alleged cultural utopia; middle-class vacationers; and even partying military personnel from bases within driving distance. The Haight-Ashbury could not accommodate this influx of people, and the neighborhood scene quickly deteriorated, with overcrowding, homelessness, hunger, drug problems, and crime afflicting the neighborhood.<ref name="American Experience doc">{{cite video
 |people       = [[Gail Dolgin]]; Vicente Franco
 |date         = 2007
 |title        = The Summer of Love
 |work         = American Experience
 |url          = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/index.html
 |publisher    = PBS
 |access-date  = April 23, 2007
 |archive-date = March 25, 2017
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20170325104758/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/index.html
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

=== Denver ===
[[Chet Helms]], [[Barry Fey]] and others who were constructing [[The Family Dog Denver]] in the summer of 1967 also held a [[Human Be-In]], in Denver's [[City Park, Denver|City Park]], with the goal of harnessing the Summer of Love vibe to promote Helm's new Family Dog Productions venture, which opened in September, 1967. 5,000 people attended the Be-In, with performances by bands like the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Odetta]] and [[Captain Beefheart]]. [[Ken Kesey]] and [[Timothy Leary]] were also reportedly in attendance. As Denver native Bruce Bond states in the 2021 documentary ''The Tale of the Dog,''<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 16, 2017|title=The Mystery of the Family Dog, Denver's Most Storied Rock Venue|url=https://www.westword.com/music/the-tale-of-the-dog-tells-the-story-of-the-family-dog-the-rock-venue-9369088|website=[[Westword]]}}</ref> "It's not like the Summer of Love ended in Frisco. It just moved east, to Denver."

== Use of drugs ==
{{Psychedelic sidebar| History}}

{{listen
| type         = music
| filename     = 
| title        = "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
| description  = While [[the Beatles]]' 1967 song "[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]" was not written or intended as a drug song, it has become synonymous with LSD, psychedelia and mysticism. The song was released amid the Summer of Love.
| pos          = left
}}
[[Psychedelic drug]] use became common. [[Grateful Dead]] guitarist [[Bob Weir]] commented:

<blockquote>Haight Ashbury was a ghetto of bohemians who wanted to do anything—and we did but I don't think it has happened since. Yes there was LSD. But Haight Ashbury was not about drugs. It was about exploration, finding new ways of expression, being aware of one's existence.<ref>J. McDonald quoted in E. Vulliamy, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/may/20/popandrock.features8 "Love and Haight"], ''Observer Music Monthly'', 20 May 2007</ref></blockquote>

After losing his untenured position as an instructor on the Psychology faculty at [[Harvard]] University, [[Timothy Leary]] became a major advocate for the recreational use of psychedelic drugs.<ref name="long magazine" /> After starting taking [[psilocybin]] in the late fifties, a psychoactive chemical produced by certain [[Psilocybin mushroom|mushrooms]] that causes effects similar to those of LSD, Leary endorsed the use of all psychedelics for personal development. He often invited friends as well as an occasional graduate student to consume such drugs along with him and colleague [[Richard Alpert]].

On the West Coast, author [[Ken Kesey]], a prior volunteer for a [[CIA]]-started LSD experiment in 1959, advocated the use of LSD.<ref name="long magazine" /> Soon after participating, he was inspired to write the bestselling novel ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]''.<ref name="long magazine" /> Subsequently, after buying an old school bus, painting it with psychedelic graffiti and attracting a group of similarly minded individuals he dubbed the [[Merry Pranksters]], Kesey and his group traveled across the country, hosting "acid tests" where they would fill a large container with a diluted low dose form of the drug and give out diplomas to those who passed their test.<ref name="long magazine" />

Along with LSD, [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] started to be much used during this period. However, new laws were subsequently enacted to control the use of both drugs. The users thereof often had sessions to oppose the laws, including The Human Be-In referenced above as well as various "smoke-ins" during July and August;<ref name=Harden>{{cite web|last=Harden|first=Mark|title=Summer of Love Seminal '67 Event Back after 30 Years|date=July 6, 1997|url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr|website=Lexislexis.com|access-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> however, their efforts at repeal were unsuccessful.

==Funeral and aftermath==
[[File:Death of hippie.jpg|thumb|Mock funeral notice]] 
By the end of summer, many participants had left the scene to join the [[back-to-the-land movement]] of the late 1960s, to resume school studies, or simply to "get a job".{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}} Those remaining in the Haight wanted to commemorate the conclusion of the event. A mock funeral entitled "The Death of the Hippie" ceremony was staged on October 6, 1967, and organizer Mary Kasper explained the intended message:<ref name="PBS timeline">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/sfeature/timeline.html |title=The Year of the Hippie: Timeline |access-date=April 24, 2007 |website=Pbs.org |archive-date=May 15, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515044905/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/sfeature/timeline.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{blockquote|We wanted to signal that this was the end of it, to stay where you are, bring the revolution to where you live and don't come here because it's over and done with.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/filmmore/pt.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302220430/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/filmmore/pt.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 2, 2008|title=Transcript (for ''American Experience'' documentary on the Summer of Love)|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] and [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]|date=2007-03-14}}</ref>}}

In New York, the rock musical drama ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'', which told the story of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, began [[Off-Broadway]] on October 17, 1967.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Qfo_thEoWykC&pg=PA75 |title=Collision: When Reality and Illusion Collide |author= Ron Bruguiere |year= 2011 |page=75 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781456725242 |access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref>

==Legacy==
===Second Summer of Love===
{{Main|Second Summer of Love}}
The "Second Summer of Love" (a term which generally refers to the summers of both 1988 and 1989) was a renaissance of [[acid house]] music and rave parties in Britain.<ref>{{cite web |title=Documentaries - The Second Summer of Love |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/secondsummer.shtml |website=Radio 2 |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 May 2022}}</ref> The culture supported [[MDMA]] use and some [[LSD]] use. The art had a generally psychedelic emotion reminiscent of the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Reynolds
 | first = Simon
 | year = 1998
 | title = Energy Flash
 | publisher = Picador
 | isbn = 0-330-35056-0
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
| last = Elledge
| first = Jonn
| date = January 11, 2005
| url = http://www.ak13.com/article.php?id=278
| title = Stuck still
| publisher = AK13
| access-date = June 13, 2006
}}, "By the end of 1988, the second summer of love was over"</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://dancemusic.about.com/od/genres/a/HistHardHouse_2.htm
 |title       = History of Hard House
 |access-date  = June 13, 2006
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060516040340/http://dancemusic.about.com/od/genres/a/HistHardHouse_2.htm
 |archive-date = May 16, 2006
}}"As the second "Summer of Love" arrived in 1989"</ref>

=== Soviet "Flower Children" ===
Behind the Iron Curtain, hippies inspired a counter-cultural movement, "Flower Children", nicknamed for the flowers typically in their hair.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Risch |first=William Jay |date=2005 |title=Soviet 'Flower Children'. Hippies and the Youth Counter-Culture in 1970s L'viv |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036343 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=565–584 |issn=0022-0094}}</ref> The hippies' boho fashion style, anti-war, and even expressions, such as "Make love, not war," were used by the Flower Children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Risch |first=William Jay |date=2005 |title=Soviet 'Flower Children'. Hippies and the Youth Counter-Culture in 1970s L'viv |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036343 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=565–584 |issn=0022-0094}}</ref> While they took inspiration from hippies in fashion, beliefs and protest, they used it to protest the particular repression they faced under a pre-Perestroika Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Risch |first=William Jay |date=2005 |title=Soviet 'Flower Children'. Hippies and the Youth Counter-Culture in 1970s L'viv |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036343 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=565–584 |issn=0022-0094}}</ref> 

=== 40th anniversary ===
During the summer of 2007, San Francisco celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love by holding numerous events around the region, culminating on September 2, 2007, when over 150,000 people attended the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love concert, held in Golden Gate Park in Speedway Meadows. It was produced by 2b1 Multimedia and the Council of Light.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2b1records.com/summeroflove40th/FullProc.pdf|title=Proclamation|website=2b1records.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Summer-of-Love-bands-and-fans-jam-in-Golden-Gate-2543250.php |title=Summer of Love bands and fans jam in Golden Gate Park |author=Joel Selvin |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date= September 2, 2007  |publisher=[[Hearst Newspapers|Hearst]] |location=[[San Francisco, CA|San Francisco]] |issn=1932-8672 |access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.50thsummeroflove.com/index.php/bands| title=The Line Up for 2007| work=Summer of Love 50th Anniversary – 2017| access-date=July 23, 2017| archive-date=July 22, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722071104/http://www.50thsummeroflove.com/index.php/bands| url-status=dead}}</ref>

===50th anniversary===
[[File:Summer of Love 50th, Conservatory of Flowers San Francisco.jpg|thumb|Illumination of the [[Conservatory of Flowers]] on June 21, 2017]]
In 2016, 2b1 Multimedia and The Council of Light, once again, began the planning for the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. By the beginning of 2017, the council had gathered about 25 poster artists, about 10 of whom submitted their finished art, but it was never printed. The council was also contacted by many bands and musicians who wanted to be part of this historic event, all were waiting for the date to be determined before a final commitment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125006249/en/2b1-Multimedia-Council-Light-Announce-San-Francisco%E2%80%99s|title=2b1 Multimedia Inc and the Council of Light Announce San Francisco's Summer of Love 50th Anniversary Concert|date=January 25, 2017|website=Businesswire.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref> New rules enforced by the San Francisco Parks and Recreational Department (PRD) prohibited the council from holding a free event of the proposed size. There were many events planned for San Francisco in 2017, many of which were 50th Anniversary-themed. However, there was no free concert. The PRD later hosted an event originally called "Summer Solstice Party," but it was later renamed "50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love" two weeks before commencement. The event had fewer than 20,000 attendees from the local Bay Area.

In frustration, producer Boots Hughston put the proposal of what was by then to be a 52nd anniversary free concert into the form of an initiative intended for the November 6, 2018, ballot.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ampthemag.com/the-real/summer-love-producer-heading-polls-various-permit-denials/|title=Summer of Love Producer is Heading to the Polls After Various Permit Denials|date=January 12, 2018|website=Ampthemag.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Summer-of-Love-concert-promoter-won-t-give-up-12485585.php|title=Summer of Love concert promoter won't give up – seeks ballot measure|date=January 10, 2018|website=Sfchronicle.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref> The issue did not make the ballot; however, a more generic Proposition E provides for directing hotel tax fees to a $32 million budget for "arts and cultural organizations and projects in the city."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-s-ballot-measures-get-their-letters-so-13153177.php|title=5 local ballot measures face San Francisco voters in November|date=August 13, 2018|website=Sfchronicle.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref>

During the summer of 2017, San Francisco celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love by holding numerous events and art exhibitions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sftravel.com/article/experience-summer-love-san-francisco|title=Experience The Summer of Love in San Francisco|website=Sftravel.com|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref>
In Liverpool, the city has staged a 50 Summers of Love festival based on the 50th anniversary of the June 1, 1967, release of the album ''[[Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', by [[the Beatles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cultureliverpool.co.uk/summer-of-love/|title=50 Summers of Love|website=Culture Liverpool|year=2017}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|1960s}}
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Counterculture of the 1960s]]
* [[1967 in music]]
* [[Acid rock]]
* [[Allen Ginsberg]]
* [[David Peel (musician)|David Peel]]
* [[Deadhead]]
* [[Central Park be-ins]]
* [[Intentional community|Commune]]
* [[Grateful Dead]]
* [[Hippie]]s
* [[Jefferson Airplane]]
*[[George Harrison]]
* [[John Lennon]]
* [[Neil Young]]
* [[Nick St. Nicholas]]
* [[Psychedelia]]
* [[Psychedelic rock]]
* ''[[Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love]]''
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
|last = Lee
|first = Martin A.
|author2=Shlain, Bruce
|title = Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD, and the Sixties Rebellion
|location = New York
|publisher = Grove Press
|year = 1985
|isbn = 0-394-62081-X
|id = IDBN 0-394-55013-7
}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Engebråten |first1=Linda |title=1967 : a year in the life of The Beatles : history, subjectivity, music |journal=Masteroppgave |date=2010 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10852/26951 |publisher=[[University of Oslo]] Library|hdl=10852/26951 }}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Summer-of-Love-40-Years-Later-1967-The-stuff-2593252.php Summer of Love: 40 years later], from ''[[SFGate]]''
* [https://sfist.com/2017/03/02/what_was_the_summer_of_love_an_expl/ What Was The Summer Of Love?: A 50th Anniversary Explainer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028233724/https://sfist.com/2017/03/02/what_was_the_summer_of_love_an_expl/ |date=October 28, 2020 }} – [[SFist]]
* [https://daily.jstor.org/the-summer-of-love-wasnt-all-peace-and-hippies/ The Summer of Love Wasn’t All Peace and Hippies] – [[JSTOR]]
* [http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/magazine/summer/ The Summer of Love, Performers in Britain and the United States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106174430/http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/magazine/summer/ |date=November 6, 2007 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' and the ''American National Biography''
* John Griffiths. [http://socialhistoryblog.com/the-counterculture-of-1967-reflections-on-the-summer-of-love-by-john-griffiths/ ''Summer of Love'', in Britain]
* Kate Daloz [https://longreads.com/2017/08/07/the-hippies-who-hated-the-summer-of-love/ The Hippies Who Hated the Summer of Love] [[Longreads]]
* [http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1347632.html CIS: 'Summer of Love' Reached Behind Iron Curtain], by Salome Asatiani. [[RFE/RL]], August 30, 2007 (an article about the impact of the Summer of Love event on Soviet youth culture)
* [[PBS]], ''[[The American Experience]]: [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/ Summer of Love] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228115505/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/love/ |date=February 28, 2017 }}'', 2007
* [[Peter Berg (bioregionalist)]] [https://planet-drum.net/2017/12/10/peter-berg-interviewed-about-the-summer-of-love-for-the-american-experience/ interviewed about the Summer of Love] for ''[[The American Experience]]'', [[PBS]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230409085147/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a0ea23ee13244da7aa49beb84c5d22cd A Taste of Summer] 2007-10-09 [[BBC Radio 2]]<!--  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tll0y  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08s76xp   -->

{{Rock festival}}
{{Hippies|state=collapsed}}
{{Sexual revolution}}
{{Counterculture of the 1960s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summer Of Love}}
[[Category:1967 in American music]]
[[Category:1967 in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:1960s fads and trends]]
[[Category:Hippie movement]]
[[Category:Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco]]
[[Category:Sexual revolution]]
[[Category:Beatniks]]