Summer of Love concert permit denied for 2nd time
By Sam Whiting
For the second time, promoter Boots Hughston has been denied a permit to stage a free concert in Golden Gate Park to honor the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.
Hughston was recently offered Sharon Meadow on Aug. 27 for a much smaller event than he had originally planned for the Polo Field on Sunday. Last week, Hughston told The Chronicle that he was awaiting permission from the city Recreation and Park Department to announce the show, and that a permit would be forthcoming.
But on Thursday, Diane Rea, manager of permits and reservations for Rec and Park, sent Hughston a letter of denial, stating that he had not met conditions required to protect the park and surrounding neighborhoods. She also scolded Hughston for a posting on his website that suggested the permit had already been approved, and that he was producing 50,000 flyers for an event that he had said would not exceed 15,000 people.
“You have not made progress on those important elements and the event is not yet close to being approved,” Rea wrote. “Rather than put the park and public at risk, we must deny the permit.”
Reached by telephone at his Mill Valley home Saturday, Hughston denied all the charges leveled at him in Rea’s letter and said he had not yet decided whether to appeal the rejection before the full Rec and Park Commission.
“It probably won’t do us any good to appeal.” he said. “They do not want this event to occur.”
Hughston forwarded an
email string to support his claim that his production organization, the Council of Light, has been treated unfairly, burdened with excessive demands and denied due process, under the authority of Dana Ketcham, director of permits and property management for Rec and Park.
“Dana Ketcham and Diane Rea are manipulating liars,” he said. “We’ve had events in the park for 20 years with no problems.”
Hughston, a onetime colleague of Chet Helms and the Family Dog and now a real estate investor, had already held a 40th anniversary tribute to the Summer of Love at Speedway Meadow in the park. His plan for the “Summer of Love 50th” was bigger, originally planned for June 4 at the Polo Field, site of the historic Human Be-In. The Be-In drew more than 10,000 to a free Gathering of the Tribes on Jan. 14, 1967, and started the rush toward the Summer of Love. It was expected to be the pinnacle of a citywide culture fest honoring the anniversary.
Almost immediately, Hughston’s golden anniversary plan started to come undone, when performers he had announced said they had not agreed to participate. Then on Feb. 7, he was denied a permit for the Polo Field by Rec and Park, for “numerous misrepresentations of material facts in your application.” These included advertising the event without a permit in hand, and suggesting it would attract more than 80,000 people, almost double the crowd he had estimated in his permit request.
Hughston appealed that denial before the full Rec and Park Commission at a Feb. 16 hearing, which started off with a passionate rally on the steps of City Hall and continued in the hearing chamber.
Summer of Love participants and tourism boosters packed the room beyond its capacity of 63. Speaker after speaker asked the commission to allow the all-day festival on the grounds that the Summer of Love was a crucial point in the history of the counterculture and its 50th anniversary should be adequately honored. One man got down on his knees and begged. A sing-along to “Give Peace a Chance” broke out.
But it was unanimously rejected, setting the stage for Hughston to reapply. The first open date was not until late fall, but Aug. 27 was freed up by a late cancellation. Hughston said he was offered it on May 25, and accepted a day later. He sent an email to the 350-member Council of Light with the exciting news that Aug. 27 had been approved.
“We have exactly three months to pull it off,” it read. “The first thing we need to do is get the posters out on the street.”
Upon receipt of his letter of denial, Hughston issued a news release under the “Summer of Love” logo. It decried the city’s “onerous demands and conditions,” and listed “horrendous actions.” It also demanded the city “restrain and discipline” Ketcham and Rea.
“The 50th anniversary is so important that to be caught in a petty squabble with the city is unfair to San Francisco and its citizens or for that matter, the world,” Hughston said. “The world looks at this event as a beacon of light and hope for change. To not have it occur is a tragedy.”