Peace Illumination Walk. Washington Sq. Fri. Dec. 23

New York: New York Workshop in Nonviolence, 1966. Broadside poster printed in red on white stock, approximately 14 x 11 inches. Near Fine.. A poster announcing the Peace Illumination Walk, an anti-Vietnam War demonstration held in New York City on Friday, December 23, 1966. Participants were instructed to assemble in Washington Square at 6 p.m. and march through Manhattan carrying candles “in sympathy with suffering in Vietnam.” The walk was to conclude about 8 p.m. with a light tableau in Midtown, followed at 9 p.m. by a benefit celebration at the Palm Gardens. The event was organized by the New York Workshop in Nonviolence and advertised as a benefit for Vietnamese children. Speakers and performers listed on the poster include poets Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, and Jackson Mac Low; the satirist Paul Krassner, later a founder of the Youth International Party (Yippies); novelist Gilbert Sorrentino; and the countercultural rock group The Fugs, led by Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. The program also notes appearances by Swami Bhaktivedanta and members of the Hare Krishna movement.

The poster’s radiating optical design centers on the word “manifestivity,” a term used by anti-war organizers to describe protest events combining demonstration with music and performance. The lower portion includes a mail-in coupon inviting supporters to send contributions to the Veterans and Reservists to End the War in Vietnam through the New York Workshop in Nonviolence at 5 Beekman Street.