When hippies ruled the world (documentary, hippie culture)

"When hippies ruled  the world" (documentary, BBC TV)


Part 1: https://youtu.be/LtjIsi6VMaI


Part 2:  https://youtu.be/FC6RPhUVdPQ


Part 3: https://youtu.be/PgeNIEyarz8


Part 4: https://youtu.be/M2usv4zGBhw



Source: YouTube

The Summer of Love Experience & How Hippies Changed the World (documentaries)

The Summer of Love Experience

https://youtu.be/SnJGYjuNBCE

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The Summer of Love How Hippies Changed the World Series.

The first episode looks at how ideas, music and lifestyles from Asia, Europe and the American Left became entwined in California. It traces the roots of the hippies back to a 19th-century German sect of wandering naturalists called Lebensreform who brought their freethinking ideas about nature to California after the Second World War. There they merged with a growing interest in Eastern mystical concepts of human nature imported to America by maverick British thinkers like Aleister Crowley and Aldous Huxley. Add to this mix a wonder drug first developed by the CIA called LSD and a wave of student activists and anti-war protestors agitating for revolution and you have the astonishing story how these forces came together to give birth to the Summer of Love in San Francisco, 1967.



https://youtu.be/zoKue11ArRw 


or the trailer: 

San Francisco - Summer of 1967 (documentary)

The Way it Was: San Francisco Summer of 1967

Documentary of the "hippie" life in San Francisco in the summer of 1967. Guest appearance by George H. Conger. A discussion of the politics of the day surrounding marijuana use and the Freedom movement. Includes footage of weddings and concerts in Golden Gate Park, The Diggers, Haight Ashbury, Job Corp and other community services by, and for, themselves.

Directed by Donald Shebib of CBC



https://youtu.be/pEejp5_UMyQ :

The Hippie Movement (documentaries)

Something's Happening a.k.a The Hippie Revolt 1967

A documentary chronicling the "youth movement" of the late '60s on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip and San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district.

https://youtu.be/hFNo-w_3LJU




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Report from the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, the centre of the new hippie movement

This is the new avant garde left bank area of San Fran which has evolved over the past number of years, the last 18 months has seen tremendous increase of so-called hippies who have invaded and live in this area. 
This is a protest against middle and upper class people of San Fran, it is a belief of the people that we the middle class have done a very poor job in running our government and our way of life.

https://youtu.be/tSaAEtGBbMo

===============================================================

San Francisco diggers (full documentary)


https://youtu.be/Uv8Kn3KXBMQ

Astrology of the Hippy Movement

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius

Aquarius from the play "Hair" *

The Hippy Movement was less of a movement and more of an unseen force that permeated the minds and hearts of hippies around the world. In cities, on college campuses, in communes hippies everywhere were part of a collective consciousness that appeared rather suddenly in the 1960s. We shared a growing awareness of ourselves, our humanity, and our environment. As we interacted with each other we taught and learned about life, love, sex, drugs, peace, activism, freedom, cooperation, beauty, art, and music. What is so amazing about this font of knowledge is its source. Virtually none of it came from our parents (unless they happened to be very aware themselves). None of it came from our schools, government, or churches (unless you happened to be Buddhist or Hindu or Taoist already).

So where did all this knowledge and awareness come from? Astrologers point to the stars and the positions of the outermost planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Beginning in October, 1965 we witnessed a rare, powerful conjunction of Uranus and Pluto (it happens about once every 200 years or so). Uranus represents the urge to be free. It brings sudden changes usually by destroying the old to make room for the new. It replaces outdated attitudes with new, more constructive ones. Pluto forces us to transform and regenerate. It takes that which is sick, no longer of value and either destroys it or transmutes it via healing and cleansing into something useful and positive. When the two planets are conjunct (aligned together) their energy intensifies and focuses. Since the aspect occurred in the sign of Virgo, this means the focus was analytical, and critical with an emphasis on communication and service to others. The whole astrological scenario was extremely conducive to revolutionary ideas and activities, if not outright revolution.

A time for love, a time for hate, a time for peace, I swear it's not too late.

The Byrds (Turn! Turn! Turn!)

Indeed revolution was on the agenda, and might've happened, if not for another very profound astrological event that occurred in September 1966. This was a sextile (60?) of Uranus (again) and Neptune. This is another positive aspect that represented an unusual combination of powerful energies at work during the period. Again we have the need for freedom combined with sudden destruction of the old ways (Uranus), but this time creating new opportunities (sextile) for spiritual growth, artistic creativity, and idealism (Neptune).

Neptune is symbolic of the higher form of love. With Neptune in Scorpio, the sign of powerful emotions, enormous latent energy, and strong sense of purpose, it's no wonder there was an explosion of creativity and new ideas in the Arts and Music, as well as spiritual, sexual and chemical experimentation. This aspect, following after the previous one, probably helped people refocus their energies towards transforming themselves, and creating new forms of expression. There's no doubt that this aspect set the stage for the Summer of Love. Indeed in July 1967, this aspect occurred again (Neptune Retrograde), with Neptune going direct in August, emphasizing the lesson further!

The planet Uranus is key to the Movement's revolutionary ideas, originality, experimentation, and quest for freedom. Pluto made us toss out the old ways that were useless, transmute that which was worth saving, heal ourselves and our environment, and integrate those new transformative ideas into our collective consciousness.

C'mon people now, smile on your brother,

ev'ry-body get together, try to love one another right now.

Chet Powers (Get Together)

Neptune, the intuitive, idealistic, artistic, inspirational planet was directly responsible for the new forms of music and art that developed. But more importantly, as the higher vibration of Venus, the planet of Love, it helped us see and understand the true nature of universal Love. Love of all things, our fellow man, nature, the planet, the universe, even God, the very source of Love. It's no coincidence we called our awakening to this knowledge, the Summer of Love.

Neptune also represents escapism, drug use and abuse. This was certainly an important part of the Hippy culture. Besides all the wonderful, creative, inspirational tendencies these astrological events portray, there was a definite downside. Many kids dropped out of school, ran away, got addicted to certain hard drugs, overdosed and some even died. While Hippies relished their freedom, many refused to take responsibility for their actions. Fortunately, the Neptune aspects (conjunction and sextile) were very positive and the long-term effects were likewise very good.

These astrological events, because they involve the outer planets, occur over a long period of time, affect a large number of people, influence social structures and can bring about great changes that take many years to manifest. They also affect generations in different ways since our natal (birth) astrology differs (particularly the outer planets). Whereas one generation may be open to the changes, another might be highly reactionary, as was the case in the 1960s. Even though young people in the '60s had virtually no power (the voting age was still 21), our in-your-face, extremely vocal radicalism and the violent conservative backlash only served to underline the hypocrisies, outdated attitudes and serious failings of the system.

The deeper, more subtle, changes that the Hippy Movement generated are still being integrated into our social and political structures as well as our collective psyche. It appears that the confluence of planetary influences, combined with a rebellious open-minded generation, a range of innovative ideas, new powerful psychedelic chemicals, and increasing social pressures to conform, succeed, and fight an unwinnable war served to spark individually and collectively a far reaching transformation, unlike any seen before.

When people ask, "What happened to the Hippies?" they are wondering why the Summer of Love ended. Astrologically, planets and people change their positions over time. What motivated and inspired us astrologically no longer exists. Other forces dominate our lives at the present. However it serves no purpose to forget and bury the past. Let the past inspire us to improve our lives and those conditions surrounding us so that new generations may benefit from our wisdom and enlightenment.

The moral, social, ethical, and environmental dilemmas we face now are but a taste of things to come for our children and grandchildren. It's time we reexamine our lives, put the past in proper context, learn some important new lessons, and relearn some old ones. I believe that we all have within us this incredible store of knowledge and wisdom. Certain conditions bring it out, be they astrological, social, chemical, or spiritual. We must re-ignite the spiritual lamp so we can light the way for the generations to follow.

* By the way, the words to the song Aquarius (quoted above) weren't written by an astrologer and make very little sense since the moon goes into everyone's second house once a month, and Jupiter aligns with Mars almost once a year. Therefore they don't indicate anything like the "dawning of an age". (I suppose they could've been referring to the U.S. natal chart progressed into the 1960s, but I doubt it). However, the sign Aquarius is ruled by the planet Uranus which as you can see was the big influence during the Hippy Movement. I guess the "Age of Uranus" didn't quite have the same ring….

Text: Skip Stone (Hippy.com)

Summer of Love 1967 (documentary)

The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, initiating a major cultural and political shift. Although hippies also gathered in major cities across the U.S., Canada and Europe, San Francisco remained the epicenter of the social earthquake which would come to be known as the Hippie Revolution. Like its sister enclave of Greenwich Village, the city became even more of a melting pot of politics, music, drugs, creativity, and the total lack of sexual and social inhibition than it already was. As the hippie counterculture movement came farther and farther forward into public awareness, the activities centered therein became a defining moment of the 1960s, causing numerous 'ordinary citizens' to begin questioning everything and anything about them and their environment as a result.
This unprecedented gathering of young people is often considered to have been a social experiment, because of all the alternative lifestyles which became more common and accepted such as gender equality, communal living and free love. Many of these types of social changes reverberated on into the early 1970s, and effects echo throughout modern society.
The hippies, sometimes called flower people, were an eclectic group. Many were suspicious of the government, rejected consumerist values, and generally opposed the Vietnam War. Others were uninterested in political affairs and preferred to spend their time involved in the aforementioned sex, drugs, and music.

Although the culture was based primarily on music and the rejection of established society, a large and colorful thread running through the social fabric at the time featured enlightenment through discovery and personal development, and the use of LSD and marijuana was significantly influential as a result. LSD -- also known as acid -- was extremely popular, and the perception-altering effects of the drug were often interpreted to be a path for evolution onto a "higher plane" of consciousness.

The final nail in the coffin came about in no small part due to the fact that by the end of the summer, most of the buzzwords therefrom had long since been re-appropriated as advertising slogans by the very commercialist-based culture they sought to escape. Additionally, for the entire summer, the tenderfooted and greenhorned hippie, unused to the daily realities of city life, inherently believed everyone to be `basically good'.But, once all the various types of ne'er-do-wells caught on and started following the hippies to town, that only led them to be seen as easy targets like vultures looking for carrion in the desert.
And then - after so many people left in the fall to resume their college studies, those remaining in the Haight wanted to signal the conclusion of the scene not only to themselves and their friends, but also to those still in transit or still considering making the trek as well. A mock funeral entitled "The Death of the Hippie" ceremony was staged on October 6, 1967, and organizer Mary Kasper explained the intended message therefrom as follows:
"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."


https://youtu.be/9G8O7mkIjpM

Source: YouTube

Hippy Philosophy and the Hippy Dream

We are stardust, we are golden, 

and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden. 

Joni Mitchell/CS&N 

(Woodstock)

So what do hippies want anyway? What is their utopian fantasy? It's easy to criticize the existing system, but just what do hippies have to replace it? Many accuse the hippies of being dreamers (one of the more benign accusations!). But I like to think that hippies are bringing a message to humanity. An urgent message. We need to change. Now!

We all want to change the world. 

The Beatles (Revolution)

How? How about rethinking our whole relationship to the planet. Once upon a time people thought about the future in terms of decades and generations. They were concerned about the legacy they would leave their children and grandchildren. Today that seems so far from our thoughts. Our primary concern is; "What can I get now?"

It seems as though there's some kind of "land grab" going on, except it's not just land that people are grabbing, it's resources and power. It's like a party where no one got enough to eat, and the last few morsels are left, and everyone's eyeing them covetously, ready to fight for that last bite.

It's a problem of too many people, diminishing resources, human greed, rampant consumerism, and massive development of the few remaining untouched places like the rainforests. Our utopian fantasy doesn't necessarily require something to be done, but rather so many things for us to refrain from doing. That's the first step. Let's preserve what we have before greedy individuals and corporations gobble it up.

I'm just beginning to see... 

The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why. 

The Moody Blues (Tuesday Afternoon)

Then on an individual basis, hippies maintain that we must get back in touch with that part of ourselves that we lost. That innocence about the world, that hope for a future full of wonders. We want to reclaim our right to a healthy life and a healthy planet. We are all infected to some degree with a disease that requires us to consume way more than we need to survive. If all this greed had some noble purpose, perhaps it could be justified, but unfortunately it has become an end unto itself.

Like a true Nature's child, we were born, born to be wild 

Steppenwolf 

(Born to be Wild)

Many hippies consider themselves pagan. Paganism is the belief that nature in itself has the answers to life's most important questions. Paganism is a way of showing respect for the natural paradise we have on earth. It puts us in touch with that animal essence which we all repress, but is the key to our health and survival. The idea that Mother Nature knows best is the basis for the Ecology movement. To second-guess nature, to manipulate her for personal gain is likely to have unexpected consequences which will backfire in the long term.

That organism, that creature of which we are each a part, 

is the biosphere, the living surface of this planet Earth. 

That stirring we all feel, that move towards group-consciousness, 

is the biosphere of Earth becoming aware of its existence. 

It is being born. 

We are waking up. 

Paul Williams (Das Energi)

Gaian philosophy is an outgrowth of paganism. Paganism sees everything living as imbued with spirit. Gaianism goes one step further and sees the entire planet as one evolving entity, of which we are an integral part. Thus to clear cut rainforests, to pollute the seas, the land and the air is not just showing disrespect, it's raping our loving host that provides us with everything we need. In our endless greed we take and take, throwing the system out of balance. Many believe that Gaia will attempt compensate and restore the balance, probably by unleashing some plague upon mankind to reduce our numbers, if she doesn't kill us off completely.

Our responsibility as individual cells of a living organism, 

is to perform our individual functions as well as possible. 

Our orders come from within…we are free to be ourselves… 

Our lives will grow richer and richer as the health of the 

total organism improves. 

Our destiny is unimaginably high. 

Paul Williams (Das Energi)

Man's shortsightedness is blinding him to the true nature of the world. Our interconnectedness and dependence upon the ecological balance of the planet as a whole has been lost ever since science and religion split long ago. Hippies seek to regain this awareness so we can act in accordance with the needs of the greater system, rather than be a severe burden upon it. It's our Dharma.

Without stirring abroad, 

One can know the whole world; 

Without looking out of the window 

One can see the way of heaven. 

The further one goes 

The less one knows. 

Lao Tzu

This awareness, once attained, requires us to reassess our role as human beings on the planet Earth. The questions; "Why are we here?" and "What is the meaning of life?" are the most important questions we can ask ourselves. As I said before, Paganism provides those answers. We are here to serve the planet in the highest capacity we are capable of realizing. Truly, our needs are few. Those needs manufactured by our society are just tools used to keep us slaving for our rich masters while they destroy our common wealth.

One thing I can tell you is you've got to be FREE! 

John Lennon (Come Together)

Freedom is shedding those false needs and finding one's true place in the greater scheme. Understanding the interdependence of life is seeing beyond the material illusion (Maya) and witnessing the dance of energy that is the true nature of the universe. This is called enlightenment. Hippies seek enlightenment in various ways. Drugs provide but a fleeting glimpse of the true nature of reality. We know that before you can change the world, you must change yourself and find peace within. Yoga and meditation bring us this inner peace and help us to act in balance with our surroundings. Eastern mysticism from Ashtanga Yoga to Zen Buddhism provide us with various paths to enlightenment.

Hippies are the most open-minded folks when it comes to religion. We study most of the world's religions and take what makes sense and enhances personal freedom and reject the dogma. So our philosophy is a melange of the teachings of Christ, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Krishna, Gandhi, even some latter-day saints like Lennon, Leary and Morrison. Some hippies choose a particular religion or guru to follow, while others blaze their own path, following the Tao wherever it takes them like a true Dharma bum.

If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him. 

Book title by Sheldon Kopp

Of course we know that a perfect planet is unrealistic. People come to this planet to work out their Karma. Human beings must live and learn by their mistakes. But we need to see examples of how to live in peace and harmony before we can change ourselves. Christ and Buddha were two such examples, and look at how many lives they influenced. Imagine what a whole nation of Bodhisattvas could do! This is our dream. To live in harmony with each other and our planet. How close we come to achieving it depends upon each person's willingness to change themselves. May we all see the light.

Text: Skip Stone (Hippy.com)

Making Sense of the Sixties (by David Hoffman)

Making Sense of the Sixties - television series made for PBS by David Hoffman


The Early 1960s - A Time Of Innocence:

https://youtu.be/OW-GgFinUhc

What The 1960s Did To America: 

https://youtu.be/Ls7LJ2Bk0LY

Hippies Remember The Glory Days:

https://youtu.be/plgKnrpvtAI

Summer of Love 1967 ( BBC documentary)

BBC: 1967 - The Summer of Love - documentary

https://youtu.be/KlxHJGD4ULg

No audio!!!!

San Francisco

 Haight Street  (1967)

San Francisco 1967

This is one the the very best documentary's I have ever seen on the San Francisco music scene from 1967....Alan Whicker was there with his camera crew filming all what was happening....from the Avalon Ballroom to Chet Helms dropping acid in Muir Woods to crash pads and teenage runaways ...this also has his fine biting commentary as well....

(source: YouTube)

BBC Documentary:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

   

The Age of Aquarius (video)

The Age of Aquarius (video)


A cultural icon of the 1960s! 'The Age of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In' by The Fifth Dimension, was a hit song in the sixties, with very intuitive lyrics, that carry great symbolism and significance in the times now at hand.

Hippie Era - Music and Cloths

The Hippie Era - The Music and Clothing Were Like None Other

Text: By Jayli Soladay:

The Hippie era in the 60's and 70's was characterized by many things. Communes where groups of people banded together to live in one large household or farm, working together were all over the United States (a few small hold-outs are still active today).

Other nations had the same movement going on as well. The anti-Vietnam-war movement was another, with the young people promoting peace, love, open-mindedness and sharing.

The music and clothing were like none other before, sometimes the wilder, the better, but most of it was characterized by individualism, natural fibers and many accessories that were either hand-made or hand embellished to suit the owner.

Tie-dye was popular and showed up in everything from t-shirts to jeans, skirts to shirts, scarves, bandannas and bags. Any clothing that was reworked to fit someone was worked on by the owner, and maybe some friends, rather than a formal tailor shop.



The style was usually loose fitting, flowing and comfortable. Bright colors and flower designs were everywhere, from applique patches and fabric paint on clothing to painted on their vehicles. Peace symbols were just as predominant.

They were rebelling against the staid, 'normal' aspects of society, challenging it to grow and open up to new ideas. Many of the young people became vegetarians as a way of life and to protest the killing of other creatures for food. Hair was worn long in order to be different in yet another way from the generation before.

It was a time of almost an entire nation of young people on the move, looking to 'find themselves', a time of discovery to learn not only who they were, but also who they could be, a time not only of seeing the world around them, but appreciating it and trying to learn ways to preserve it.

The Hippie Trail

What Happened To The Hippie Trail? The Legacy Of The Asia Overland Route

By Mark Johanson, International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.com

Ken Klein left Philadelphia in 1973 with the $800 he'd saved from his bar mitzvah. He wanted to see the world but ran out of money in Istanbul and went back to the United States to work in telephone sales with the goal of raising $5,000 and buying a one-way ticket back to Europe.

A year later, at the age of 24, he set out east from Istanbul along the overland route through Asia. Five years later, still in Asia, he proposed to his Dutch traveling companion, Marjon. They wed on Jan. 1, 1979, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The "hippie trail," he said, changed his life.

Like Ken, thousands of rebellious Europeans, Americans and Aussies in the 1960s and 1970s threw caution to the wind and traded their suburban upbringings for sarongs, sandals and the allure of the East, marching along the overland route on a journey that would forever alter the course of history.

Jack Kerouac, father of the Beats and grandfather of the hippies, may have had something to do with it. He published "On the Road" in 1957, inspiring a generation to hit the road on a journey of self-discovery. Then Beat poet Allen Ginsberg moved to Varanasi, India, in 1962, heralding the wonders of Eastern philosophy and calling it "my promised land" and "a new earth."

Soon, The Beatles were in Rishikesh, India, with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Cat Stevens - who would become Yusuf Islam - was in Kathmandu. Dylan said the times were a-changing, Peter, Paul and Mary were leaving on a jet plane, and Ray Charles told a generation to hit the road and don't come back no more, no more, no more, no more. The seed was planted, and the overland route through Asia quickly became the journey of a generation.

The Hippie Trail

There were fashionable precedents for the pilgrimage. Coming out of the conformist 1950s, the hippie movement galvanized youth in the United States and quickly spread through Europe all the way to Australasia.

Its fundamental ethos - communal living, harmony with nature, experimentation and recreation drug use - found an ideal match in the East. The hippies cut ties with their jobs and rejected materialism and money. Their objective was to know themselves, and the deep spirituality of the East provided the perfect outlet for self-discovery.

"Previously, people had been somewhat fearful of the unknown: the unknown cultures, food, people, and customs. But the hippies put themselves into situations where they could only experience the unknown. It was almost a grounded form of astral travel," said Dr. Robert Muller, who received his PhD in sociology at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia.

He's done research in the field of global trends as a sociologist since 1993 and maintains several blogs about hippie culture. "The 'overlanders' changed perceptions of travel to one of people being able to take their adventures into their own hands and see, and more importantly, to experience life on their own terms, and to their own guidelines," Muller said.

Generally, the term "hippie trail" describes a popular, though varied, route through parts of Asia from the edge of Europe to India and Nepal. For many, Istanbul, Turkey was the starting point and Goa, India, or Kathmandu, Nepal, was the end, depending on the season.

Aussies and New Zealanders began their route in Bali, Indonesia, and worked their way across in the opposite direction, but the idea was the same. It was part Silk Road and part caravan tracks, but it became a cultural freeway.

Inspired by the British overland scientific expeditions of the mid-1950s, the Indiaman Bus Company, established in 1957, is considered the first commercial operator to have carried passengers to Bombay (Mumbai) and back from its location in Kings Cross, London.

Swagman Tours (dubbed the Asian Greyhound) and Magic Bus were among other operations that soon followed, arranging buses from various points in Europe for the wild roads of the "mystic East" through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and into India and Nepal.

These buses shared the road with a motley crew of private cars, vans and minibuses, many of which puttered out amid the scorching deserts and high-altitude mountain passes of the over 12,000-mile round-trip journey. "Overlanders," as they were known, spent months, even years on the trail.

Some of these latter-day Marco Polos sought adventure and spiritual enlightenment. Others sought drugs and an escape. Whatever the reason, their journey through Asia was one for the history books.

(To read further, go to: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/348061/20120602/hippie-trail-asia-overland-route-thailand-russia.htm)

San Francisco - The Haight-Ashbury

If You're Going to San Francisco .......



Scott McKenzie immortalised the 1960s hippie culture with his hit song, "San Francisco" (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair). The lyrics spoke of a youth movement that rose in the mid 1960s in America and swiftly spread to other nations.

The word "hippie" is derived from "hipster" and early ideology set out the anti-establishment values of the Beat Generation. Along with the ideology came waves of sexual freedom and expression, widespread use of psychedelic drugs and the introduction of psychedelic rock music.

The Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco became a mecca of hippie culture. Fragments of flower power remain, but the Haight today is nothing like it was four decades ago. Smoke shops still dot the landscape with exotic names like Dreams of Kathmandu and Pipe Dreams, but only two distinct sections of the Haight remain.

The Upper Haight stretches from Stanyon to Masonic and is the commercial centre. It features exclusive boutiques, high-end vintage clothing shops, second-hand stores, trendy restaurants and internet cafes. The neighbourhood deteriorates as it moves towards Golden Gate Park. The Lower Haight, which spreads from Divisidero to Webster, is a different and rougher neighbourhood. The many dance music record shops and clubs like The Top attract many DJs and party people.

The hippie movement left its mark on American culture, influencing popular music, television, film, literature, and the arts. One has but to look around to see the hippie vision in contemporary times. Everything from health food to music festivals to a loosening of sexual mores and even the promise of cyberspace had its roots within the hippie group dynamic.

It should also be noted that the hippie movement had its dark side, initiated not by its belief system but by dark and evil followers such as Charles Manson and his murderous crew of drifters and misfits.

A visit to San Francisco and the Haight-Ashbury region truly is a fascinating glimpse into a world changing period in history. Use First Choice Discount Codes and First Choice Discount Vouchers for tours that will transport you to some of the sights of this colourful neighbourhood. When travelling, a visit to the Grateful Dead House is a recommended sight. Located at 710 Ashbury Street, the famous rock group lived together with many other transients in this building that dates back to 1890 and was built by the Cranston-Keenan architect team (former US Senator Alan Cranston’s grandfather).

No tour of the Haight-Ashbury section would be complete without a stop at the Red Vic Movie House. Located at 1727 Haight Street, this movie house is known for its vast selection of cult, independent and premiere films offered at reasonable prices. You can buy organic treats and popcorn with or without yeast and/or sip some coffee or tea. This unique theatre offers both couches and theatre seats and, at the front window, a calendar of month-to month film features.

Young people flocked to the intersection of Haight & Ashbury in search of a dream. It is this quest that remains to this day and its promise, however tenuous, needs to be remembered.