BART cars transformed into psychedelic bingo halls

A group called the Growing Artist Guild took over a BART car heading into SF and threw a psychedelic bingo party on Friday, July 14. The event was called Bay Area Rapid Bingo. A group called the Growing Artist Guild took over a BART car heading into SF and threw a psychedelic bingo party on Friday, July 14. The event was called Bay Area Rapid Bingo. Photo: Mischa Steiner Photo: Mischa Steiner Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close BART cars transformed into psychedelic bingo halls 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

A BART car heading into San Francisco around 8 p.m. on Friday, July 14 was transformed into a psychedelic bingo hall by advocates of Psychedelic Friendship Bingo, a long-running underground Bay Area event that will take place next week.

The group, called the Growing Artists Guild, took over a BART car at the MacArthur station to kick off an related event, called Bay Area Rapid Bingo (BARB). BARB took place in the BART car, and was a method of promoting the Psychedelic Friendship Bingo, which is being presented by Kulturehaus and Minerva Company.

They rolled a bingo table with a speaker on top that played music onto the car. In addition to providing tunes, the speakers allowed Herbie Hatman, who ran the game as BART drove into SF, to call out numbers as he picked them out of the bingo cage.

The group covered the lights of the BART car with red and purple lighting gels to complete the transformation, handed out bingo cards to passengers, and partied all the way to the 24th Street Mission station. There, they took over another car, headed for the East Bay, and did it all over again.

They gave out tickets to the promoted event, Psychedelic Friendship Bingo as prizes. The event will take place on Saturday, July 22 at Tortona Big Top in Alameda.

Organizers of BARB said they finally got off the train after playing three rounds of bingo. When they got back to the MacArthur station, they headed over to Temescal Brewing for a couple more rounds of bingo.

"I'd say we had about 45 attendees, plus random bart riders that joined in," Hatman said to SFGATE in a statement released about the event on Saturday.

"I think the brewery might have actually gotten us the most promotion. But aside from a marketing standpoint, it was so much fun....It was great. Felt like the Bay Area that I've been missing."

Psychedelic Friendship Bingo is billed as an immersive experience that is part-bingo game, and part-live performance—with elements of psychedelia, vaudeville and cabaret mixed in. Attendees are encouraged to get involved in the madness beyond just showing up to watch the show and play bingo.

For those who come and play bingo, there are chances to win prizes including tickets to Outside Lands, bars of chocolate from the Oakland-based Endorfin Chocolate, or dinner for two at local restaurants like Presidio Pizza and Soul Groove.

Psychedelic Friendship Bingo has been going on in different places around the Bay Area since 2010. The first event was held at Amnesia Bar in San Francisco. Every edition of Psychedelic Friendship Bingo features local and regional celebrities. Oakland native and comedian Moshe Kasher and visual artist Leighton Kelly have been featured in the past.

This year, the celebrity guests include the popular SF-based blogger Broke-Ass Stuart and the Oakland-based Internet celebrity Grumpy Princess.

According to Hatman, this event harks back to a time when the Bay Area was a more fun, playful region.

"There was a time in the not too distant history of the Bay Area in which there was a lot more playfulness," he said in a press release to SFGATE.

"Bay Area Rapid Bingo and Psychedelic Friendship Bingo are both reminders that despite everything else happening, that fun is still valuable to the cultural landscape of our Bay Area."

Check out photos from Bay Area Rapid Bingo in the slideshow above.