Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love

Getty Images/iStockphoto

While the Summer of Love is known as a West Coast event, there were plenty of artists and hippies having similar celebrations right here in New York. The East Village became a haven for young adults fleeing the confines of their straight-and-narrow parents, while SoHo gave rise to a generation of artists and free-thinkers that thrived on the love and music that filled the neighborhood.

The July Fourth weekend may be behind us, but this summer offers another festive anniversary to commemorate. The Summer of Love, when nearly 100,000 young people trekked across the country and converged on San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, took place 50 years ago, in 1967. Hair flowers and tie-dyed t-shirts were the dress of the day as people from all over the country gathered to celebrate art, music and love against the backdrop of a tumultuous political climate.