Local institution Beach Blanket Babylon has been entertaining San Franciscans with its gravity-defying hats and spectacular costumes for 40 years! To commemorate their record-breakings success (and passage into middle age), the musical theatre company is hosting a special public celebration this week. This Friday, June 6 at noon, civic and arts leaders will join the cast of BBB to salute the world’s longest-running musical revue at City Hall.
If you can't make it to the weekday celebration, you can still take part in the birthday magic—more than 20 of Beach Blanket Babylon's most iconic hats have taken up residence across the Bay Area. The self-guided tour, of sorts, features hats from every decade that BBB has been on stage (scroll through the most outrageous in the slideshow above), and it's the first time in history that so many hats have been displayed at once. At 15 feet wide, 10 feet deep, and 29 feet tall, visitors to Davies Symphony Hall can see the iconic Silver San Francisco Skyline Hat. Or head to the de Young Museum for the World Hat and the Washington Hat, and don't forget to catch the original Banana Carmen Hat at the SFJAZZ Center. In fact, make it your mission to see them all this weekend.
But don't just view the pretty hats, take a selfie with your fave and tag it #BeachBlanket40 for a chance to win a 40th Anniversary gift package that includes a pair of tickets to see Beach Blanket Babylon at Club Fugazi, a BBB baseball cap, and a BBB Ghirardelli Chocolate bar. Every photo taken with a hat counts as an entry into the contest, and 40 winners will be chosen at random on Friday, June 20.
