What the World Needs Now is...

It looks like this

...but also like this

It moves like this

...and like this

...and like this

But whatever it looks like or moves like or sounds like, it feels like this

Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

It's the San Francisco Love Fest and before I go on I should mention that it happened last weekend. But I wanted to share the love here so any future would-be revelers have the 4-1-1. The Love Fest begins with a parade of floats, and each float hosts a different DJ (the DJs all play different styles of trance music). The parade ends at City Hall, and all the streets nearby are then closed to traffic. The floats park and then people just dance until evening, then spill into nearby clubs for after parties.

According the website, these are the values and intentions of the event:

...a free parade that celebrates music, love, diversity, tolerance, dance, and community is something we believe in strongly, and believe America needs now more than ever. Dance music has always had a special ability to bring people together in the shared beauty of a universal vibe. Our community by and large remains 'underground' in U.S. pop culture due to very little support from radio and MTV, etc. We know that in a culture awash in conflict, materialism, superficial concerns, and greed, an event of this kind can lift the spirits and the hopes of those who to surrender to its power. The power of dance. The power of music. The power of community. We're taking it to the streets letting the vibe and the cooperation and respect of the people taking part in it be a message of hope in dark times. We intend to make the event a platform for dance music to reach more ears in America and beyond, to carry a message of love and hope, to be a vehicle for helping organizations doing good in the world, and for dancing our asses off surrounded by friendly freaks.

The Love Fest definitely attracts its share of friendly freaks, friendly being the operative word. I've really never been in a place where people seemed so incredibly kind and accepting and truly just interested in having fun. There was none of the super-sexed vibe found at many other such gatherings or at any club. In the trance music realm, it really seems like boys and girls are equal creatures, just out for music, out for movement, out for fun. We had a great time.

Only in San Francisco can something like this happen on the steps of City Hall. Beautiful.