Monterey Pop

"Join the love crowd for the ecstatic intimacy of Monterey Pop." – Melissa Anderson, Village Voice

On a beautiful June weekend in 1967, at the beginning of the Summer of Love, the first Monterey International Pop Festival roared forward, capturing a decade's spirit and ushering in a new era of rock and roll. Monterey featured career-making performances by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding, but they were just a few among a wildly diverse cast that included Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, the Who, the Byrds, Hugh Masekela, and the extraordinary Ravi Shankar. With his characteristic vérité style, D.A. Pennebaker captured it all, immortalizing moments that have become legend: Pete Townshend destroying his guitar, Jimi Hendrix burning his. Around one hundred thousand attendees descended on the Monterey County Fairgrounds, many of them disillusioned with the American government, consumerist values, and the Vietnam War. Today's political climate is turbulent once again, and the concept of the "gathering" - the exchange of ideas in the name of social change - is stronger than ever. CGAC is thrilled to screen Monterey Pop in a new 4K restoration in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the festival and the Summer of Love.

In addition to our new releases, be sure to join us for these special limited, or one-time-only, screenings.

Check out the rest of our Special Presentations program!