Which 1967 festival is widely credited with launching the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco?
Answer
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey Pop Festival is widely credited with launching the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco.
Held from June 16 to June 18, 1967, the Monterey International Pop Festival brought major rock, folk, soul, and psychedelic performers together at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in California. It helped introduce American audiences to artists such as Jimi Hendrix and The Who.
The festival was organized by John Phillips, Lou Adler, Alan Pariser, and Derek Taylor. Its proceeds supported charitable causes, and the event became a model for later large-scale music festivals, including Woodstock.
The term “Summer of Love” refers to the 1967 countercultural movement centered especially in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. The Human Be-In preceded Monterey in January 1967, but Monterey is the festival most often linked with the phrase and its musical breakthrough.