On what date did Allen Ginsberg first perform “Howl” at San Francisco’s Six Gallery?

Allen Ginsberg first performed “Howl” at San Francisco’s Six Gallery on October 7, 1955.

The reading became one of the best-known early public events associated with the Beat Generation. Ginsberg read alongside Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen; Kenneth Rexroth served as master of ceremonies.

Ginsberg’s performance introduced the poem’s long, breath-driven lines to a live audience before City Lights Books published it in 1956. Jack Kerouac attended the event and helped create its atmosphere by encouraging audience members to chant and drink wine.

Accounts sometimes give the date as October 13 because that was the date of a later celebration or retrospective reference. The original Six Gallery reading, however, is conventionally dated October 7, 1955, making it a key milestone in Beat literary history.