Green and Gold Gala: A Playland Fantasy November 17, 2011

Step right up for a ride back in time as the Conservatory of Flowers celebrates the West End’s Playland at the Beach and a bygone era of seaside amusement. The Green and Gold Gala brings the gilded Art Deco boardwalk to life on Thursday, November 17, 2011 with live swing jazz, dancing, delectable food, local artisan speakeasies, a grand auto display and Playland-inspired arcade games.

At this opening night jubilee, gala guests will be the first to see Playland at the Conservatory and have the rare chance to experience the Conservatory at night. Guests can sip prohibition-era cocktails crafted by local artisan distillers, feast on fanciful food and try tasty treats of the old time amusement park. The evening also includes dancing to live swing jazz and special entertainment from the Deco Belles, as well as a chance to win the Gala’s Great Getaway for a Night and to bid on unique art and amusement park nostalgia. Glamorous swells and belles are encouraged to wear 1920s and 1930s inspired dress.

Honorary guests include Tom Wyrsch, director of the hit documentary Remembering Playland; Marvin Gold, Playland-Not-at-the-Beach historian and a former Playland carny; and Ray Taliaferro of KGO NewsTalk Radio. The Green and Gold Gala is chaired by Kelly Hansmann and Meryl Mikal and honorary chairs Eva Monroe and Pat Hanson Thomson.

Playland at the Conservatory, the historic conservatory’s 4th Annual Garden Railway, resurrects the heyday of San Francisco’s west end, an area that flourished in the early 20th Century as a destination for fun and thrills. In a dazzling display landscaped with hundreds of dwarf plants, model trains and trolleys wend their way past the famed Sutro Baths, zip around a replica of the Victorian-era Cliff House and whiz through a fantastic mini version of San Francisco’s beloved Playland at the Beach. The exhibit also includes real memorabilia, photographs and period arcade games from Playland.

Benefiting the Conservatory’s youth education programs.

Official Website: http://www.greenandgoldgala.org