Contact: Bill McCarthy 760-464-0334 unityfoundation1@aol.com
THE HUMAN BE-IN AT 50: MULTI-GENERATIONAL CELEBRATION KICKS OFF A YEAR-LONG SUMMER OF LOVE 50TH ANNIVERSARY IN SAN FRANCISCO
January 6, 2017, San Francisco – Just as the Human Be-In set the stage for the Summer of Love in San Francisco 50 years ago, so will the January 14 Human Be-In 50th Celebration initiate a year of events in San Francisco honoring the legacy of that pivotal year and the many evolutionary ideas, values and initiatives it catalyzed.
Classic SF rockers will join contemporary world and electronic music artists, along with a slate of speakers and honored guests as a crowd aged 18 to 80 gathers for the celebration at San Francisco’s high tech Gray Area Grand Theater at 2665 Mission Street on Saturday January 14 from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. The evening will include a ceremony reaffirming the foundational principles of peace, love, community and activism with a worldwide audience joining in via a live stream on PeaceChannel.com.
The original Human Be-in brought North Beach’s Beat poets, Haight Ashbury’s peace and love children, Berkeley’s political activists and thousands of curious citizens to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for the now-legendary “Gathering of the Tribes.” This historic gathering sparked a wave of cultural and social change that swept the globe, continuing to transform the generations that followed.
The Be-In 50th event will include appearances by Sixties icon and SEVA Foundation founder Wavy Gravy, author and Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally, Ann Cohen of the San Francisco Oracle, Grateful Dead lyricist and EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, Martine Algiers Bowen, Dr. David Smith, founder of Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, Jerry Cimino of the San Francisco Beat Museum, Beat poet and social activist Jack Hirschman, Avon Mattison of Pathways to Peace, Adil Kassam of Unify.org, cannabis activists Nikki Lastreto and Swami Chaitanya, Mikey Siegel of Consciousness Hacking network and Adam Hirschfelder of the California Historical Society.
Musical entertainment features the Be-In All Stars with players from some of the city’s most iconic bands – Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Blues Project, Sons of Champlin, It’s a Beautiful Day, Electric Flag, Stoneground and the Youngbloods – in a once-in-a-lifetime Jam for Peace. Singer-songwriter Galen Brandt and folk band United Soul will contribute musical elements to the Rededication Ceremony, which includes a guided meditation segment led by David Nicol of the subtle activism network.
Contemporary electronic-world fusion band House of Hamsa will perform later in the evening at the multi-generational event, along with cutting edge DJs Feral and Andreilien. Visuals will be provided by Stefan G, Dr. Paradise and other VJs (or as they were known in the ‘60s, “light show artists”). The Be-In looks toward the future with two special areas demonstrating how virtual reality can promote social good. Virtual Reality demos include the U.N.’s “Clouds Over Sidra” Syrian refugee camp, the Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience, which takes viewers to the bottom of the sea then fast-forwards to the end of the century and a Mixed Reality Showcase of curated evolutionary experiences.
Video messages of peace from Peter Coyote, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Michelle Phillips, Dr. Jane Goodall, Kenny Loggins, Joe Walsh, Ed Asner, Olympian Marilyn King and other luminaries will be shared during the evening. – 3 – This special event benefits the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, the first nonsectarian free medical service in the United States, and celebrates the clinic’s 50th Anniversary. Founded during the Summer of Love by Dr. David Smith, the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic network continues to provide medical services to underserved communities and inspire the creation of “free clinics” around the world.
The Be-In 50th is the first of many events planned in San Francisco during 2017, promoted by the California Historical Society and SF Travel, with the Summer of Love 50th Anniversary campaign official launch planned for January 14, 2017. The Human Be-In 50th Anniversary Celebration is produced by the Unity Foundation in conjunction with the Digital Be-In. The event is made possible by support from the World Peace Through Technology Organization, SOUL TV, Phi-Sciences and River Productions. Digital Be-In 17: Reality Check will be held in San Francisco in early summer 2017. Tickets are $20.00 in advance ($25 door) available from Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-celebration-of-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-first-humanbe-in-tickets-29829404552. For updated event details, see www.be-in.com and www.facebook.com/digitalbein. The live stream will be on www.peacechannel.com.