Newport Pop Festival
| The Newport Pop Festival | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Rock, pop, etc. |
| Dates | August 3–4, 1968 June 20–22, 1969 |
| Location(s) |
Costa Mesa, California (1968) Northridge, California (1969) |
| Years active | 1968-1969 |
| Attendance | 100,000 (1968) 200,000 (1969) |
| Newport 69 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Rock, pop, etc. |
| Dates | June 20–22, 1969 |
| Location(s) | Northridge, California (1969) |
| Attendance | 200,000 (1969) |
The Newport Pop Festival, held in Costa Mesa, California on August 3–4, 1968, was the first music concert ever to have more than 100,000 paid attendees. Its sequel, billed as Newport 69, was held in Northridge, California on June 20–22, 1969, and had a total attendance estimated at 200,000.
There were two separate events staged in the late 1960s that are commonly referred to as the "Newport Pop Festival." The first was called the Newport Pop Festival, held at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California on the weekend of August 3–4, 1968. The second event was originally billed as "Newport 69," and was held over the three-day weekend of June 20–22, 1969 in Northridge, California at Devonshire Downs. In published writings over the last 40 years, this latter event has been referred to as the "Newport 69 Pop Festival," the "Newport Pop Festival 1969" or simply the "Newport Pop Festival." Subsequently, much confusion has been created over the years between the 1968 and 1969 events. Some of this confusion was generated by the participating musicians themselves who, in later interviews, often mixed up the two events.
The latter event was organized by Mark Robinson (age 25), who was one of the three promoters of the original Newport Pop Festival in 1968. The other two promoters of the '68 event were Gary R. Schmidt (age 26) and his father Al Schmidt. Al was not a rock 'n' roller, but rather an entrepreneurial businessman who helped with the money and licensing. There was a brief lawsuit between the two Schmidts and Robinson just prior to the "Newport 69" show, which the Schmidts had declined to be involved in because of the cost of the acts. The entire band budget for the '68 show was under $50,000, while Robinson paid Jimi Hendrix alone $50,000 for the '69 event. This was an amount of money unheard of at that time for a rock act. The '68 show made money and the '69 show did not. The lawsuit was over trade names and, within the last few days before the '69 show, the court ordered that Robinson had to use "not affiliated with the Newport Pop Festival" disclaimers in advertising. Otherwise, he would not have been able to stage a "Newport 70" show using that name. A round flyer with the dimensions of a 45RPM record was used to promote the 1968 Costa Mesa show and is included in "The Art of Rock," a publication of 1960s and 1970s poster art. This flyer has sold on eBay for as much as $500.
The first Newport Pop Festival was held at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California on the weekend of August 3–4, 1968. It is believed to have been the first pop music concert with over 100,000 paid attendees.
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