The Isle of Wight Festival
| Isle of Wight Festival | |
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| Genre | Rock, Pop |
| Dates | 9–12 June 2016 |
| Location(s) | Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight, England |
| Years active | 1968–1970 2002–present |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place annually on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970.
The 1970 event was by far the largest and most famous of these early festivals and the unexpectedly high attendance levels led, in 1971, to Parliament adding a section to the "Isle of Wight County Council Act 1971", preventing overnight open-air gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the island without a special licence from the council.
The event was revived in 2002.
The original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers (Ron and Ray Foulk) under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited and their younger brother Bill Foulk. The venues were Ford Farm (near Godshill), Wootton and Afton Down (near Freshwater) respectively. The 1969 event was notable for the appearance of Bob Dylan and the Band. This was Dylan's first paid performance since his motor cycle accident some three years earlier, and was held at a time when many still wondered if he would ever perform again. Followers from across the world trekked to the Isle of Wight for the performance. Estimates of 150,000–250,000 attended. The 1969 festival opened on Friday 29 August—eleven days after the close of . Dylan was living in Woodstock, New York, at the time and it was widely believed that he would perform there, after the event had been "put in his own backyard". As it happened, Dylan left for the Isle of Wight on 15 August—the day the Woodstock festival began.
The 1970 event was by far the largest and most famous of these early festivals; indeed it was said at the time to be one of the largest human gatherings in the world, with estimates of over 600,000, surpassing the attendance at . Included in the line-up of over fifty performers were Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, The Doors, The Who, Lighthouse, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Joni Mitchell, The Moody Blues, Melanie, Donovan, Gilberto Gil, Free, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Leonard Cohen, Jethro Tull, Taste and Tiny Tim. The unexpectedly high attendance levels led, in 1971, to Parliament adding a section to the "Isle of Wight County Council Act 1971", preventing overnight open-air gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the island without a special licence from the council.
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