21 throwback photos from Isle of Wight Festival in the 1960s and 1970s
The Isle of Wight Festival first took place in the 1960s.
By Deborah Croker
Published 31st Jul 2020, 14:49 BST
We dived into the archives to find some great historic images from the festival in its early days.
The first festival was held at at Ford farm, near Godshill, between August 31 and September 1 in 1968, and was attended by about 10,000 people. Jefferson Airplane headlined, The Move, Tyrannosaurus Rex and The Pretty Things performing to mention a few.
Isle of Wight Festival 1969 took place on 30 and 31 August 1969 at Wootton, with around 150,000 attending. Performers included Bob Dylan, Marsha Hunt, The Who, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and Joe Cocker. Celebrities in the crowd watching were John Lennon and Yoko Ono, George Harrison with Pattie Boyd, Ringo Starr with Maureen Starkey, Keith Richards and Jane Fonda.
The 1970 edition of the festival was attended by between 600,000 and 700,000 people, this unexpectedly large turnout led Parliament to a section to the Isle of Wight County Council Act 1971 preventing overnight open-air gatherings of more than 5,000 people.
The festival was then revived in 2002 and has run annually since then – however this year’s festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Have a look through our gallery below to see pictures from the first editions of the Isle of Wight Festival.
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27th August 1970: Hippies, students and music lovers at East Afton Farm, near Freshwater, during the Isle of Wight pop festival. Festival-goers camping at the five day long event organised by Fiery Creations, queue up to wash at a tap. (Photo by Roger Jackson/Central Press/Getty Images) Photo: The News archive
August 1969 on the Isle of Wight during the music pop festival, of Marsha Hunt. Marsha and Mick Jagger shared a secret relationship in 1969 and in November 1970, Hunt gave birth to Jagger's first and her only child, Karis. (Photo by - / CENTRAL PRESS / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images) Photo: The News archive
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards amongst the crowd during the Isle of Wight Festival, 31st August 1969. (Photo by McCarthy/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Photo: The News archive
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