Summer of Love celebration brings peace, love and a whole lotta fun to San Francisco – Roanoke Times

Fifty years ago, an estimated 100,00 people traveled to San Francisco to change their lives. They wound up changing the world.

Now this Pacific Coast city is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, and everyones invited to the bountiful events that offer more reasons than ever to journey west.

Back in that time of peace, love and tie-dye, the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood drew hordes seeking alternative lifestyles, largely due to the presence of bands like the Grateful Dead, experimental artists, poets, social activists and the attention they garnered.

The scene seemed like a fantasy, and indeed mind-altering substances were involved. Free concerts filled streets and parks with fresh takes on folk, rock and jazz music. Pop art dazzled the eye and mind, notably in concert and be-in posters distributed free on the streets back then, and now preserved in museums. Paisley halter tops to flamboyantly flared bellbottoms brightened streetscapes. Revolutions in social norms tied to hair length, recreational drugs and free love fomented, and greater expression of fellowship, equality and tolerance flourished.

The historic convergence also stoked environmental concerns, goodwill that led to the first free health clinic, and outside-the-box thinking that led to Rolling Stone magazine, the Whole Earth Catalog and even Apple computers.

Here are some best bets for experiencing Summer of Love-related sensory pleasures. No mind-altering substances needed; just pack your grooviest clothes and be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

n The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll, a new exhibition at the de Young Museum running to August 20, is a mind-blowing history lesson. Witness the Trips Festival of January 1966 through a multimedia extravaganza of liquid light and slide shows, film projections and electronic sounds. Marvel at rock posters by talents like Stanley Mouse that popularized new art forms. Get glimpses of legendary concerts, the Human Be-In and free-flowing fashions. The museums in Golden Gate Park. http://deyoung.famsf.org

n Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, at the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive through May 21, explores the lasting impact of 1960s counterculture on global art, architecture and design. Experimental furniture, underground publications and films capture the higher-conscience zeitgeist. http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

n On the Road to the Summer of Love, running May 12 through September 10 at the California Historical Society, highlights counterculture events leading up to the Summer of Love. Approximately 150 photos and artifacts represent milestones such as the Beat movement, the experimental art scene, protests and two June 1967 events: the Monterey Pop Festival and the Mt. Tam Fantasy Fair which Adam Hirschfeld, the societys Director of Strategic Initiatives, called the worlds first major outdoor rock festival. Drawing 36,000 fans, this event boosted bands such as Jefferson Airplane, the Fifth Dimension and The Doors to global fame. It also provided a forum for former Harvard psychology professor Timothy Leary to tout hallucinogenic drugs, primarily LSD. http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org

The Magic Bus, painted in peace and love motifs, doubles as a roving movie theater with its sound system and roll-down film screens. Starting in Union Square, the fun two-hour tour visits bustling Chinatown, the fabled Fillmore concert halls old home, Haight-Ashbury, North Beach and civil rights sites. http://www.magicbussf.com

The Beat Museum salutes the generation that gave rise to the Flower Power movement. The Beats, whose moniker refers to beatific, were a collective of writers, artists and thinkers who congregated here in the 1950s. Independently owned, this museum archives original manuscripts, letters and cultural objects. Its in North Beach, the Beats home base. http://www.kerouac.com

This is a city easily sight-seen on foot. Guided tours include Wild SF Walking Tours. Its new pay-whatever Free Love Free Tour leads you through the Haight-Ashbury epicenter of Free Love movement. An expert guitar-toting guide shares tales and songs of Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and other luminaries. The 1.75-hour adventure passes the Deads longtime psychedelic house, Joplins apartment, tie-dyed street art, Charles Mansons macabre mansion and Panhandle Park. Reservations required. http://wildsftours.com

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art reopened last year with a 10-story expansion inspired by the bay and fog. Pop art is well-represented. http://www.sfmoma.org

Dining choices include Sparrow Bar and Kitchen, located in Haight-Ashbury. Pair Haight Cuisine super-salads, sandwiches and quinoa cakes with local craft beers. http://www.sparrowbarandkitchen.com. Wild nettles? Broccoli hummus? Del Popolo is a favorite for small plates and wod-fired pizza made with exquisite local-grown ingredients. http://www.delpopolosf.com. Rambler serves flaky housemade biscuits and hearty mains morning to late night. Lovely regional wines, too. http://www.ramblersf.com

At Golden Gate Park, stroll a Pacific Coast haven that has drawn world travelers for decades. Keep your ears open for a locals tradition: the drum circle on Hippie Hill.

Roberta Soslow, an award-winning writer/photographer who lives in the South, can be reached at robsoslow@gmail.com.

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Summer of Love celebration brings peace, love and a whole lotta fun to San Francisco - Roanoke Times