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The Summer of Love: Pier to Pier

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

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Music: Classic Pop & Rock

29/05/2017

BBC Radio Wales - The Summer of Love: Pier to Pier

Cerys Matthews explores the Summer of Love and its journey from San Francisco to Wales.

Cerys Matthews explores the Summer of Love through Welsh eyes in California, and explores how it travelled 5263 miles from San Francisco to Penarth.

In 1967, 100,000 people descended on San Francisco for the Summer of Love. It was a social phenomenon driven by the underground alternative youth and fuelled by a desire to challenge conservative values.

50 years on, Cerys Matthews remembers the Summer of Love through Welsh eyes in California.

In San Francisco we meet Ray Sullivan who moved from Ebbw Vale to America in the early 1960s. Ray brings alive the sound of the city before sharing his memories of living in Haight-Ashbury, the district where psychedelia met suburbia. We also hear from those who witnessed every moment of the Summer, discovering why personal empowerment, liberal political consciousness and cultural awareness collided.

Then, Cerys explores how the Summer of Love traveled 5263 miles from San Francisco to Penarth.

In Penarth we meet Paul Barrett, who organised a Californian-inspired 'Love-In' in 1967. Paul remembers the night when 200 flower children listened to psychedelic music at the Paget Rooms, dancing with flowers in their hair. We also discover why the Summer of Love had such an impact in Wales, and how it continues to shape how people live their lives today.

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