The Philadelphia area has quite a sizable hippie population, but as it is a massive area, you won’t usually see too many at one time. During the summer, we all come out of the cracks to enjoy drum circles at the art museum, although they were invaded last summer by stupid nitrous kids and got busted all the time by the cops.
Also, in the end of august the Philadelphia Folk Festival takes place about an hour outside the city, and man is it beautiful. So many beautiful, wonderfully friendly people, crafts, food vendors,and incredible music. you can go swimming in a creek a short walk from the campground! also a nice paved trail to walk down. it’s a family feeling since only about 5 or 6,000 go every year. definitely worth going to!!!!
Ive been living in Philadelpiha all my life…Well 18yr…not that long not have eeven experienced the drum circle..Ive heard to so much about it but no one wants to go with me..booohooo..Well Im a groove lil hippy chick! hmmm Im lookin for more super people in Philly..emai; me cryingeyez@msn.com
I, too, am from Philly. I am also a volunteer at the Philly Folk Fest.(Q fuckin’ rocks!!!!) I recommend to anyone to get to this festival!!!!! Great atmosphere 24/7!!!! Good vibes and great people make you feel at home. Peace
I love it in Philly I’ve been here for 23 yrs and counting but it’s kinda hard to meet up with peeps round here sometimes- decent amount of hedz on South Street. I’ve been dying to hit up the drum circle but don’t know when it usually is if anyone can help me out that would be cool!
I have to give major props to the female phish community – Phunky Bitches represent in Philly cool chix if ya wanna meet em!
email me if ya wanna meet up or have any clue ins about the drum circle or other happenings (mopumps@yahoo.com)
peace love ‘n’ light- mo
I lived in Philly all of my life, only 16 years though. I live in Northeast Philly, where the air is cleaner, the sky is bluer, but not many hippies young or old. The neighbors across from where I live, use to own a VW bus, but that was before I was born. I live near Pennypack Park, where every summer they have mini-festivals on their Bandstand (basically a stage with nice painting on it, in the middle of an open field), on every other Wednesday from May to September. They use to have all day Saturday festivals, but they haven’t had any of those is years. If I could try and get my band up-and-running, my mother is a member of the board of directors of the Community Association for our neighborhood, so I could try to get more all-day Saturday Festivals next year. For those who want to hear great rock and roll music, in a park, come to Pennypack. I don’t usually go downtown often, but when I do I only go to South Street, as there was an old jingle from the 60’s that went, “Where do all the Hippies go, South Street, South Street”. They have the best food, best thrift shops, alot of hippies, best record stores. If your interested in going to South Street, and you want to buy a necklace with a pot leaf or a peace sign, there is a great shop called Soho, it’s not much of a hippie store, but it sells great hippie things. There’s also a great store in the town of Neshaminy, a suburb of Philadelphia, called, Moxsha, which is an Indian word meaning “the release of your soul”. The store is in The Neshaminy Mall. They sell tie-dyed everything from T-Shirts to flags with bands on them like, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Joplin, etc. They sell incense, incense burners, hacky-sack balls, beads for the door, alot of spritiual items, anybody interested should go. Remember these tips and locations.
Peace
I live in “The City of Brotherly Love” (yeah, right!) and have yet to meet ANY hippies. I feel as
if I am alone with my peasant dresses and tie dyes, not to mention ideology (save the
environment, love the animals-don’t eat them, question authority, ya know, the usual). I attend
Temple U and would LOVE to hook up w/ and fellow hipsters. Until then, I am destined to sing and
dance alone to the Dead and play my lonely little tambourine…
peace ya’ll…I’m a native to Philly for most of my life (44 years to date), there are hippies here but, it all depends on you definition of hippies and I rather prefer the term of “rainbow tribe” just because to me it speaks of a larger more diverse group of people who are socially conscious (most are) and not just in the party end of the journey..I long for utopia..so I really try and go to the rainbow gathering and really not let the world turn me so hard and bias and to allow the love of youth and spirit and divine inter magic be part of my adult life…I’m an urban shaman or roots woman and love when folks of all walks of life come to my home and we break bread and discuss various topic on life.
Yo ya’ll got to practice random act of beauty and kindness… there are drum circles however I must admit that the cops can be kinda “piggy” and can stomp on your fun…however…we really should think about having rainbow gathering in the wood close by and really come together…we must really come together and really show the love that it takes to put it off… there is more but, I’ll wrap it up right for now…are you interested in communication with a serious, artistic, soul sister and good vibes…hail me up.. hamdiya44@hotmail.com…peace out!!!
peace ya’ll…I’m a native to Philly for most of my life (44 years to date), there are hippies here but, it all depends on you definition of hippies and I rather prefer the term of “rainbow tribe” just because to me it speaks of a larger more diverse group of people who are socially conscious (most are) and not just in the party end of the journey..I long for utopia..so I really try and go to the rainbow gathering and really not let the world turn me so hard and bias and to allow the love of youth and spirit and divine inter magic be part of my adult life…I’m an urban shaman or roots woman and love when folks of all walks of life come to my home and we break bread and discuss various topic on life.
Yo ya’ll got to practice random act of beauty and kindness… there are drum circles however I must admit that the cops can be kinda “piggy” and can stomp on your fun…however…we really should think about having rainbow gathering in the wood close by and really come together…we must really come together and really show the love that it takes to put it off… there is more but, I’ll wrap it up right for now…are you interested in communication with a serious, artistic, soul sister and good vibes…hail me up.. hamdiya44@hotmail.com…peace out!!!
I live in the Philly suburbs….right near New Hope which is supposedly a hippie haven in south east, Pa. The unfortunate thing is there are pleanty of hippie shops and no hippies, it seems as if most of the buisness is from out of town. So the question is…where are all of the laid back socially conscious young people in Bucks county and the surrounding counties ,and where is there a good place to hang out and listen to music and smoke some bowls and not get hassled? Sure there is the occasional festival in the summer or show in center city where people come together….but then they seem to disperse and its back to being the lone hippie in a streight laced world. Maybe back in the day South street was where all the hippies would meet…but now there is definately more fish net than tie dye=( ….if anyone has any answers to my questions feel free to e mail me…headyfay420@yahoo.com or IM me( although im rarely on) melainamoon12
Hello hippy world! How goes it? I dont really live in Philly, i live about 50 miles away in a hippy-hating city called Reading, it’s hard to find other Peace-loving, young (i’m 17), or even old Hippys to communicate, share insight and ideas, discuss politics, smoke, and just talk to on the same hippy wave-length that my brain functions on. I was just wondering, am I the only hippy in Berks county? Please drop me a line, and just let me know i’m not alone here. Thanks, Peace To Everyone (BigFatNugs420@aol.com)
Ive been to Folk Fest the past 3 years and i loved it!!! it was so awesome!!!!! Its a great escape from city life.
there is a decent amount of hipsters around Temple U – there is a street festival on 420 but it is run by the school so they barely have any kynd vendors but it is still fun…check it out…and once in a while bands will be playing in the center of campus at the bell tower…come see eyeless-ingaza when you hear about them…they play good tunes and everybody has good times…www.eyeless.cjb.net ok peace.
wowo,,,i grew up in philly, in the 60s i spent a lot of time in a coffee house where Dave Van Ronk sang. any news on him? he was the greatest. i am now 63 and still an ole hippie. thanks, love the site. hippienl
Is anybody out there? Can anybody here me?I am so happy to find this website! I am a twenty two year old Philly Native. I went to the folkfest every year until I moved out to California. I didn’t used to feel like a lone hippie, I had my best friend and she was a hippie too. We moved out to California for three years. The people were great out there. Everyone was on the same wavelength. (northern Cal) Anyway 4 SOME reason I moved back here. I go to CCP and I feel very alone in my hippiedome, my friends out here don’t even care who the Dead or the Beatles are. I went to String Cheese a few months back, which was great It was nice to feel the love. I don’t want to be alone anymore in my hippiedome. I don’t even know if I’ll get to the FEst this year unless I convince my best friend to come back 4 it. I don’t want to go by myself. If anybody wants more camping buddies, email me at alleycatchico@yahoo.com
thanks to my parents i was a hippy from day one. i’m 20 now. my folks used to work for the philly folk fest. i was one of the fest kids running around in my little tie dye tees. hehe the year i broke my arm my mom made a tie dye sock to wear over the cast… goods times…going to the fest is ok but if you work for it its so much better, the people you meet are so great. the creek near by is a good source of food if your not a vegi…as kid i’d catch crayfish with the other fest kids to eat. so little lenny, shaky and skylar i still remeber you guys its kaitie! the philly folk fest is how i’d imagine heaven would be, everybody getting along…although some of the people who go see it as a chance to do drugs(marijuana is not a drug) and those who chose to do the heavy stuff can bring it down for the rest of us. to the guy from reading pa, i go to school there at racc and i know there are some hippys in berks as i live there now. also if your in the phily area and looking for a nice hike, an impromtu drum circle or just to see more of our kind head over to st. pete’s thats st. peters village in chester co. just don’t go on 420 the cops allways have the place staked out. anyway if you want to email me do so at metalkity@comcast.com. and don’t forget the clothes don’t make the hippy its whats inside that does.
If there are any hippie kynd folk out there in Philly, please email me so that we can chat. I live in NE Philly.
email address:defendersofatwa@yahoo.com…btw, ATWA stands for Air,Trees,Water and Animals…talk to you soon.
Hey Hey Everybody! I’ve gone to the Folk Fest ever since I was born since I live so close to it that I can ride my bike there and I love it more and more each year! I love to meet all kinds of friendly people each year. I can hardly wait until Aug! I’ll be volunteering for my 2nd year (im 17 and ive gotten in free every other year somehow) If anyone lives around the Fest area….or just anyone at all….email me at SusanBerryFace@yahoo.com or IM me at SusanBerryFace so we can chat since I dont know many layed back people in this area. I hope to hear for everyone! cya!
I’ve always lived in Philly and it’s countryside. Heck, when the Live Aid concerts came I protested Bush there. Also, a few hippies were there smoking pot and holding up a sign raising money for ‘legalization’ (money so they could buy more weed) Roflcopter. Anywho, the hippie population is pretty ‘high’ here (that was a good pun :P) and it is a great place to hang out if your into hippie stuff. The suburbs are filled with a hippie-like youth, and South street is loaded with Hippie stores, and Hindu/Buddhist Indian stores. There are plenty of indie local bands who are fairly good, and there is always something to do or see, no matter how long you’ve been there. Any hippie or liberal would love this city, it’s fun to snort at cops, twiddle your thumb on your nose at them and scream ‘PIGZ!’ as they look up from the black man they are beating on the sidewalk and roll their eyes. I strongly recommend joining in on the activities here. The Rastafari population peacefully dwells with the hippies, and anarchists and communists can easily be found in this city also. There is a gay-neighborhood (the locals call it the Gayborhood) which is chock full o’ hippie influence, and let me tell ya, Philly is like the east-coast San Franscisco. Book your hotel!
If you have any questions about Philly, and the Hippies there, or anything, e-mail me.
Brad “The Babykiller” Genetta
bradgenetta@yahoo.com
On the Philadelphia Folk Festival website I saw that “alcohol and illegal substances” are strictly prohibited at the festival. How stringent are they in enforcing this? We were thinking of going and bringing wine in a plastic container to keep in our campsite. Is that doable? What fun is a music festival without wine?
Thanks,
Richard
One thing that should be checked out in Philly is this local band called The Hydrogen Jukebox. There’s lots of people dancin’ and most often they have drum circles and such. They played one day outside in the middle of South Street. Really cool. They have a bellydancer and sideshows, etc. Their web-site is http://www.thehydrogenjukebox.com
I first found out about them from my friend who’s brother is a hippie and is also in the band. We’re from the suburbs a little North east of Philly. I think I’m one of the only ones in my town. A lot of conservatives, pop-culture kids, and wanna-be hippies that just like getting stoned. Not really and people with good, open, and kind hearts. It’s rather pitiful, but, on the lighter side, please check out the Hydrogen Jukebox. They’re a sort of pschedelic jammy sort of band. It’s hard to explain, but they have some songs on their site.
Peace,
Josh “Red Drum” – Lenape Native American
You need to know that Pebble Hill Church WELCOMES HIPPYS soo go there- its just below DOylestown Pennsylvania and when its cooking its lots of fun to be yourself, and there is drumming and food in the basement (it is interfaith so no one cares if you are into Buddah or into some other religion)…. I love it there.
I went to The Philadelphia Folk Festival many times in the late 80’s/early ninty’s and the I did not attend again for 10 years until 2003..WHAT A CHANGE FOR THE WORST!
They use to have drum circles that went on all night and NOW they got a Nazi list of rules that totally sucks ass.. One of them is NO PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS !!
I brought in a conga and played anyway and they chased me all over the place with it, totally not worth the hassel.
Never again, the whole world has turned to shit.
Hello All – My husband and I are thinking of relocating from Colorado back east. We have been in Colorado for 16 years and after having my son we want to move back to be closer to family (All of our family live in Queens NY). The dilemma is that we can’t afford to live in Queens – and i really don’t like it too much. We are considering something just outside of PA. Like within a couple hours drive of NY. I want to live in an open minded hippy town – but i don’t want something that has already gone down the “trendy, yuppie artsie fartsy wannabee” path. I want to live in an area that has good transport, shops, safe – not too expensive, kinda crunchy. Any suggestions? I have already scoped out New Hope – looks like it is already taken the yuppie path and houses seem to be very pricey. Thanks!