Love Pageant Rally
Encyclopedia
The Love Pageant Rally took place on October 6, 1966 — the day LSD became illegal — in the 'panhandle' of Golden Gate Park
, a narrower section that projects into San Francisco
's Haight-Ashbury district. The 'Haight' was a neighborhood of run-down turn-of-the-20th-century housing that was the center of San Francisco's counterculture
in the 1960s.
The major instigators of the rally were Allen Cohen
and artist Michael Bowen
, the creators of the San Francisco Oracle
, which first hit the streets in September 1966. The occasion was the banning of LSD, by the California legislature in Sacramento
, an enactment which virtually created a neighborhood of outlaws in the Haight, where 'acid' was a staple of community culture. Since the new law was to go into effect on October 6, 1966, Cohen and others related the event to the number of the Beast of Revelation
. On a more serious level, busts for drugs were ramping up locally and on the national level, and confrontations between the hippie
commune
s and the local police were getting more intense and led to street protests and rioting, followed by neighborhood curfews. A better form of protest, more suited to hippie culture was needed.
"Without confrontation," said Allen Cohen, "we wanted to create a celebration of innocence. We were not guilty of using illegal substances. We were celebrating transcendental consciousness. The beauty of the universe. The beauty of being."
Posters advertising the event invited participants to "Bring the color gold... Bring photos of personal saints and gurus and heroes of the underground... Bring children... Flowers... Flutes... Drums... Feathers... Bands... Beads... Banners, flags, incense, chimes, gongs, cymbals, symbols,
costumes, joy."
Thousands showed up for the event, read a "prophecy of a declaration of independence" written by Cohen, after which many placed a tab of acid on their tongues and swallowed in unison. Music was provided by the Grateful Dead
and Janis Joplin
, both invited to play by Michael Bowen
for free. Ken Kesey
was on hand with the Merry Pranksters
in the legendary bus.
The Love Pageant Rally drew several thousand people. It was a warm-up for the Human Be-In
the following January, which brought 30,000 together and established media attention to hippie culture that then led to The Summer of Love.
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
, a narrower section that projects into San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
's Haight-Ashbury district. The 'Haight' was a neighborhood of run-down turn-of-the-20th-century housing that was the center of San Francisco's counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
in the 1960s.
The major instigators of the rally were Allen Cohen
Allen Cohen (poet)
Allen Cohen was an American poet. Born in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, he attended Brooklyn College and then moved to San Francisco in 1963. There, he founded and edited the San Francisco Oracle underground newspaper, which was published from 1966 to 1968...
and artist Michael Bowen
Michael Bowen (artist)
Michael Bowen was an American fine artist known as one of the co-founders of the late 20th and 21st century Visionary art movements...
, the creators of the San Francisco Oracle
San Francisco Oracle
The Oracle of the City of San Francisco, also known as the San Francisco Oracle, was an underground newspaper published in 12 issues from September 20, 1966, to February 1968 in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of that city...
, which first hit the streets in September 1966. The occasion was the banning of LSD, by the California legislature in Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, an enactment which virtually created a neighborhood of outlaws in the Haight, where 'acid' was a staple of community culture. Since the new law was to go into effect on October 6, 1966, Cohen and others related the event to the number of the Beast of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
. On a more serious level, busts for drugs were ramping up locally and on the national level, and confrontations between the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
commune
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
s and the local police were getting more intense and led to street protests and rioting, followed by neighborhood curfews. A better form of protest, more suited to hippie culture was needed.
"Without confrontation," said Allen Cohen, "we wanted to create a celebration of innocence. We were not guilty of using illegal substances. We were celebrating transcendental consciousness. The beauty of the universe. The beauty of being."
Posters advertising the event invited participants to "Bring the color gold... Bring photos of personal saints and gurus and heroes of the underground... Bring children... Flowers... Flutes... Drums... Feathers... Bands... Beads... Banners, flags, incense, chimes, gongs, cymbals, symbols,
costumes, joy."
Thousands showed up for the event, read a "prophecy of a declaration of independence" written by Cohen, after which many placed a tab of acid on their tongues and swallowed in unison. Music was provided by the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
and Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, both invited to play by Michael Bowen
Michael Bowen (artist)
Michael Bowen was an American fine artist known as one of the co-founders of the late 20th and 21st century Visionary art movements...
for free. Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
was on hand with the Merry Pranksters
Merry Pranksters
The Merry Pranksters were a group of people who formed around American author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon...
in the legendary bus.
The Love Pageant Rally drew several thousand people. It was a warm-up for the Human Be-In
Human Be-In
The Human Be-In was a happening in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the afternoon and evening of January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol as the center of an American counterculture and introduced the word 'psychedelic'...
the following January, which brought 30,000 together and established media attention to hippie culture that then led to The Summer of Love.