Rock festival

A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular events, while others recur annually in the same location. Occasionally, a festival will focus on a particular genre, but many attempt to bring together a diverse lineup to showcase a broad array of popular music trends.

History

Initially, some of the earliest rock festivals were built on the foundation of pre-existing jazz and blues festivals, but quickly evolved to reflect the rapidly changing musical tastes of the time. For example, the United Kingdom's National Jazz Festival was launched in Richmond from 26 to 27 August 1961. The first three of these annual outdoor festivals featured only jazz music, but by the fourth "Jazz & Blues Festival" in 1964, a shift had begun that incorporated some blues and pop artists into the lineup. In 1965, for the first time the event included more blues, pop and rock acts than jazz, and by 1966, when the event moved to the town of Windsor, the rock and pop acts clearly dominated the jazz artists.
A similar, though more rapid, evolution occurred with Jazz Bilzen, a solely jazz festival that was inaugurated in 1965 in the Belgian city of Bilzen. The 1966 festival still featured mostly jazz acts. However, by the time of the third festival from 25 to 27 August 1967, rock and pop acts had edged out most of the jazz bands and become the main attraction.
In the United States, rock festivals seemed to spring up with a more self-defined musical identity. Preceded by several precursor events in the San Francisco area, the first two rock festivals in the US were staged in northern California on consecutive weekends in the summer of 1967: the KFRC Fantasy Fair & Magic Mountain Music Festival on Mount Tamalpais and the Monterey International Pop Festival.
Image:1979 Main Stage 25 copy.jpg|thumb|right|The Nambassa Festival in New Zealand
The concept caught fire and spread quickly as rock festivals took on a unique identity and attracted significant media attention around the world. By 1969, promoters were staging dozens of them. According to Bill Mankin, in their dawning age rock festivals were important socio-cultural milestones: "... it would not be an exaggeration to say that, over a few short years, rock festivals played a unique, significant – and underappreciated – role in fueling the countercultural shift that swept not only America but many other countries . It seems fitting... that one of the most enduring labels for the entire generation of that era was derived from a rock festival: the 'Woodstock Generation'."
Reflecting their musical diversity and the then-common term 'pop music', for the first few years, particularly in the US, many rock festivals were called 'pop festivals'. This also served to distinguish them among the ticket-buying public from other, pre-existing types of music festivals such as jazz and folk festivals. By the end of 1972, the term 'pop festival' had virtually disappeared as festival promoters adopted more creative, unique and location-specific names to identify and advertise their events. While it was still in vogue, however, over-zealous promoters eager to capitalize on the festival concept made the most of it, with some using the term "Pop Festival" or "Rock Festival" to advertise events held on a single day or evening, often indoors, and featuring only a handful of acts.
Today, rock festivals are usually open-air concerts spread out over two or more days and many of the annual events are sponsored by the same organization.

Features

Production and financing
Several of the early rock festival organizers of the 1960s such as Chet Helms, Tom Rounds, Alex Cooley and Michael Lang helped create the blueprint for large-scale rock festivals in the United States, as well promoters such as Wally Hope in the United Kingdom. In various countries, the organizers of rock festivals have faced legal action from authorities, in part because such festivals have attracted large counterculture elements. In 1972, Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Manatí, Puerto Rico attracted an estimated 30–35,000 people, and an arrest warrant was issued for promoter Alex Cooley, who avoided arrest by leaving the island before the festival was over. British Free Festival organizers Ubi Dwyer and Sid Rawle were imprisoned for attempting to promote a 1975 Windsor Festival. The British police would later outright attack free festival attendees at the 1985 Battle of the Beanfield.
Festivals may require millions of USD to be organized, with the money often gathered through fundraising and angel investors.
Stages and sound systems
While rock concerts typically feature a small lineup of rock bands playing a single stage, rock festivals often grow large enough to require several stages or venues with live bands playing concurrently. As rock music has increasingly been fused with other genres, sometimes stages will be devoted to a specific genre and may in turn become known and large enough to be seen as festivals themselves, such as was The Glade at the famous Glastonbury Festival in England.
Advances in sound reinforcement systems beginning in the 1960s enabled larger and larger rock festival audiences to hear the performers' music with much better clarity and volume. The best example was the pioneering work of Bill Hanley, known as the "father of festival sound", who provided the sound systems for numerous rock festivals including Woodstock. Other examples included the Wall of Sound invented in the 1970s to allow the Grateful Dead to play to larger audiences.
Camping and crowd control
Many festivals offer camping, either because lodging in the area is insufficient to support the crowd, or to allow easy multi-day access to the festival's features. Festival planning and logistics are frequently a focus of the media, some festivals such as the heavily commercialized Woodstock 1999 were crowd control disasters, with insufficient water and other resources provided to audiences. Many early rock festivals successfully relied on volunteers for crowd control, for example individuals like Wavy Gravy and biker groups such as the Hells Angels and Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club. Gravy in particular called his security group the "Please Force," a reference to their non-intrusive tactics at keeping order, e.g., "Please don't do that, please do this instead". When asked by the press — who were the first to inform him that he and the rest of his commune were handling security — what kind of tools he intended to use to maintain order at Woodstock in 1969, his response was "Cream pies and seltzer bottles." Other rock festivals hire private security or local police departments for crowd control, with varying degrees of success.

Historic rock festivals

1950s–1960s

Name	Years	Location	Notes
	1950s–1960s	US/Europe	Some early jazz festivals and blues festivals were showcases for rock and roll artists, primarily in the US and the UK
Swamp Pop Music Festival	1950s–1960s	Louisiana, U.S.	"Swamp pop" is a distinctive style of music that began in the 1950s when Louisiana teenagers first heard new rock-n-roll idols like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Fats Domino on the radio. The Festival's most popular period was between 1958 and 1964, when nearly two dozen swamp pop recordings reached the national charts.
Newport Jazz Festival	1954–present	Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.	It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard. While initially focused on acoustic jazz, the festival's 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music for the first time. The 1969 lineup included Jeff Beck, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, John Mayall and Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, B. B. King and Led Zeppelin.
Beaulieu Jazz Festival	1956–1961	Beaulieu, Hampshire, UK	Lord Montagu of Beaulieu holds an annual traditional and modern jazz festival in the ground of Beaulieu estate, in the New Forest. Attracts beats and jazz eccentrics, called 'ravers', and both pop and jazz music.
National Jazz and Blues Festival	1961–1980s	United Kingdom	Though dedicated mostly to jazz and blues in the beginning, this annual festival has become a showcase for progressive rock as well, featuring groups such as the psychedelic rock group Cream.
Reading and Leeds Festivals	1961–present	England	The line-up settled into a pattern of progressive rock, blues and hard rock during the early and mid 1970s then became the first music festival to embrace punk rock and new wave in the late 1970s.
Festival Omladina		Subotica, Serbia	Established in Subotica in 1961, Festival Omladina was originally a competition of young composers of popular music. Their compositions were initially performed by pop singers, but soon the performers of competing compositions became rock bands. In 1970s, the non-competitive part, featuring established rock acts, was added to the program, and in the 1980s the festival became a competition of young rock bands. During the years, some of the most notable acts of the Yugoslav pop and rock scene performed on the festival.
Big Sur Folk Festival	1964–1971	Big Sur, California	Esalen Institute with Joan Baez and Nancy Carlen.
Parada ritma / Vatromet ritma	1964–1965	Yugoslavia	Parada ritma / Vatromet ritma was a series of concerts featuring Yugoslav rock bands, held in Belgrade and Novi Sad during 1964 and 1965. The first edition is considered the first rock festival in Yugoslavia and arguably the first rock festival in a communist country.
Vilar de Mouros Festival		Portugal	Usually recognized in Portugal as the precursor of all the music festivals, the Vilar de Mouros Festival became a cultural icon, counting with the first edition in 1965. In that year it was organized a folk festival that by the large impact it had, reached immortalization in 1971, most of all because of rock music nature and the presence of bands with great international projection. Held with long interregnums and therefore named as the festival of several generations, it has been creating a certain eclecticism, which attracts musical styles that lead people with the most different musical tastes.
Jazz Bilzen	1965–1981	Bilzen, Belgium	First festival on the continent where jazz and pop music were brought together. Sometimes called the "mother of all festivals," Bilzen started out jazz, but soon blues, folk, rock and soul, later even punk and new wave, came to be incorporated as well.
Gitarijada	1966–1967	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Gitarijada was a festival held in Belgrade, featuring performances of Yugoslav rock bands. The festival was one of early rock festivals in Yugoslavia and considered one of the milestones in the history of Yugoslav rock music. The first edition of the festival was attended by more than 15,000 and the second by more than 13,000 spectators.
Gitarijada	1966–present	Zaječar, Serbia	Established in Zaječar in 1966, Gitarijada is one of the longest lasting festivals in Serbia and in South Eastern Europe and the largest festival of young and unaffirmed bands in South Eastern Europe. Currently, it consists of competitive part and of non-competitive part featuring well-known Serbian and foreign acts.
Trips Festival	1966	San Francisco, California, U.S.	The Trips Festival on 21–23 January 1966 was the most attended and advertised of the early Acid Tests events, which were started in late 1965. Ten thousand people attended this sold-out event, with a thousand more turned away each night. On Saturday 22 January, Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company came on stage, and 6,000 people arrived to imbibe punch spiked with LSD and to witness one of the first fully developed light shows of the era. Grateful Dead sound engineer Ken Babbs notably created a new sound system for the festival, building sound amplifiers that didn't distort when turned up to high sound levels. The Trips Festival was followed by the 6 October 1966 Love Pageant Rally, held in San Francisco to protest the banning of LSD.
Mantra-Rock Dance	1967	California, U.S.	Occurring several weeks after the Human Be-In event on 14 January 1967, the 29 January Mantra-Rock Dance was a precursor event to the large outdoor festivals that debuted in the summer of 1967. The dance was held in San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom, featured three bands including Grateful Dead, and was organized by followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to introduce its founder to a wider American audience.
Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival	1967	Marin County, California, U.S.	Over 36,000 people attended the two-day concert and fair on 10 and 11 June, that was the first of a series of San Francisco area cultural events known as the Summer of Love. Influenced by the popular Renaissance Pleasure Faire, which was founded in Irwindale, California in 1963 as the first large renaissance fair. Fantasy Fair became a prototype for large scale multi-act outdoor rock music events now known as rock festivals.
Monterey Pop Festival	1967	Monterey, California, U.S.	Major one-time cultural event on 16–18 June, with genres including rock, pop and folk, including blues-rock, folk rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock styles.
Schaefer Music Festival	1967–1976	New York City, U.S.	First held in the summer of 1966 in Central Park as the small event the Rheingold Central Park Music Festival, the first lineup in July 1967 with the new name included only The Young Rascals; The Jimi Hendrix Experience; and Len Chandler. The lineup afterwards grew exponentially, with diverse genres related to blues and pop. On 21 July 1969 Led Zeppelin were the headliners of the Schaefer Music Festival at New York City's Wollman Rink, along with B.B. King.
1968 Pop & Underground Festival	1968	Hallandale, Florida, U.S.	May 18–19, 1968. An estimated 25,000 people attended the May event, which was promoted by Richard O'Barry and Michael Lang, later famous as promoter of Woodstock. This event would later come to be known colloquially as the "Miami Pop Festival", though it was unrelated to the December 1968 "Miami Pop Festival". The Jimi Hendrix Experience was one of the featured artists. After Sunday's concert was rained out, it inspired Hendrix to write "Rainy Day, Dream Away."
Northern California Folk Rock Festival I	1968	San Jose, California, U.S.	18–19 May 1968. The first festival featured notable bands such as Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Janis Joplin, The Youngbloods, The Electric Flag, Kaleidoscope, Taj Mahal, etc.
Summerfest 110px	1968–present	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.	Billed as "The World's Largest Music Festival" by the Guinness World Records since 1999, this 11-day event is held between late June and early July, encompassing all genres of musical styles.
Newport Pop Festival	1968–1969	Costa Mesa, California, U.S.	3–4 August 1968. The first music concert ever to have more than 100,000 paid attendees. Also held the following year.
Isle of Wight Festival		Isle of Wight, England	31 August and 1 September 1968. Progressive rock counterculture event. The 1970 event was by far the largest of the early ones, and led, in 1971, to Parliament passing the "Isle of Wight Act" preventing gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the island without a special license.
Sky River Rock Festival	1968–1970	near Sultan, Washington, U.S.	First held 31 Aug – 2 September 1968, it was the first multi-day outdoor hippie rock festival at an undeveloped site. Included the Lighter Than Air Fair.
Internationale Essener Songtage	1968	Essen, West Germany	September 1968. Krautrock arose at this first major, weeklong, indoors German rock festival.
Hyde Park Free Concerts	1968–1976	Hyde Park, London	UK—single-day events
San Francisco Pop Festival	1968	Pleasanton, California, U.S.	Held Saturday 26 October & Sunday 27 October 1968. The groups playing at the festival included The Animals, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc.
Los Angeles Pop Festival	1968	Los Angeles, California, U.S.	The dates were 22 and 23 December 1968, with groups such as Blue Cheer, The Box Tops, Canned Heat, etc.
Miami Pop Festival	1968	Hallandale, Florida, U.S.	28–30 December 1968. This event drew an estimated 100,000 people, was the first major rock festival on America's east coast, and was produced by Tom Rounds, who had previously produced the seminal Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival. Performers included Chuck Berry, Joe Tex, Marvin Gaye, Flatt and Scruggs, The Turtles, Procol Harum, The Amboy Dukes, Steppenwolf, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Palm Springs Pop Festival	1969	Palm Springs, California, U.S.	Held 1–2 April 1969, it was actually two separate one day events. The first was at the Sunair Drive-in in Cathedral City and was called the Palm Springs Pop Festival. Lee Michaels, Procol Harum and John Mayall were the closing acts that day. Day 2 was called the San Andreas Boogie held at the LA Angels summer training baseball field. There was a prediction of an earthquake that day. Buddy Miles Band, Savoy Brown and Canned Heat were the closing acts. The situation went sour when policing efforts militarized the event and there were riots, and a young concert-goer was shot and killed by a nearby store clerk. Concert permits were not issued in Palm Springs afterwards for many years.
Big Rock Pow-Wow	1969	West Hollywood, Florida, U.S.	Took place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 23, 24 and 25 May 1969, at the Hollywood Seminole Indian Reservation in West Hollywood, Florida. Artists who performed at the festival included Grateful Dead, Johnny Winter, Rhinoceros, Muddy Waters, the Youngbloods, with Timothy Leary speaking from the stage.
Northern California Folk-Rock Festival II	1969	San Jose, California, U.S.	23–25 May, the festival featured The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane, etc.
First Annual Detroit Rock & Roll Revival	1969	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	30–31 May 1969, held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Local artists such as Sun Ra played, as well as Chuck Berry, MC5 and The Stooges.
Newport 69 Pop Festival	1969	Northridge, Los Angeles, U.S.	20–22 June 1969
Toronto Pop Festival	1969	Toronto, Canada	21–22 June 1969. Toronto Pop was the first large music festival ever held in Canada. Held at Varsity Stadium over two days of 21 and 22 June 1969, crowds averaged 35–40,000 each day. Scheduled performers included Saturday, 21 June - Eric Anderson, Al Kooper, The Band, Bonzo Dog Band, Johnny Winter, Velvet Underground and Sly & the Family Stone. Sunday, 22 June - Ronnie Hawkins, Chuck Berry, Kensington Market, Tiny Tim, Nucleus, Dr. John & the Night Tripper, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Steppenwolf
Bath Festival of Blues	1969	Somerset, England	Saturday 28 June 1969. Developed by Freddy Bannister and Wendy Bannister, it had a lineup of British blues bands, including Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Ten Years After, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Country Joe McDonald, Santana, Moody Blues, Fairport Convention, Jefferson Airplane, Dr. John, The Byrds, Canned Heat, The Nice, Chicken Shack, Jon Hiseman's Colosseum, Mick Abrahams' Blodwyn Pig amongst others.
Denver Pop Festival	1969	Denver, Colorado, U.S.	Three-day music festival promoted by rock promoter Barry Fey on 27 – 29 June 1969 which was largely overshadowed by Woodstock two months later. With the full support and local resources of Denver, the peak attendance was estimated at 50,000.
Harlem Cultural Festival	1969	Harlem, New York, U.S.	29 June – 24 August 1969. The Harlem Cultural Festival was a series of music concerts held in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of black pride. Notable participants included Nina Simone, B.B. King, Sly and the Family Stone, Chuck Jackson, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach, the 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, and Moms Mabley, among many others.
Mississippi River Festival	1969–1980	Edwardsville, Illinois, U.S.	MRF consisted of a variety of popular rock, folk, bluegrass, and classical music performers. The more popular groups, such as The Who, Yes, Chicago, Eagles, and Grateful Dead shows were heavily attended. Some shows attracting crowds in excess of 30,000. In July 1969, Bob Dylan did a short surprise gig, together with The Band. It was his first performance since his notorious motorcycle accident in 1966.
Atlanta International Pop Festival I	1969	Hampton, Georgia, U.S.	The first Atlanta festival was held 4–5 July 1969, at the Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta, and drew a crowd of around 100,000. Performers included Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, and Chicago Transit Authority.
The Stones in the Park	1969	Hyde Park, London	Free outdoor concert by The Rolling Stones held on 5 July 1969, also featuring Third Ear Band, King Crimson, Screw, Alexis Korner's New Church, Family and The Battered Ornaments, in front of a crowd estimated at between 250,000 and 500,000 fans.
Laurel Pop Festival	1969	Laurel, Maryland, U.S.	A music festival held at the Laurel Race Course in Laurel, MD on 11–12 July 1969. The festival featured Buddy Guy, Al Kooper, Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Edwin Hawkins and Led Zeppelin ; and Jeff Beck, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, The Mothers of Invention, Savoy Brown and Guess Who.
Summer Pop Festival	1969	Philadelphia, United States	The July 12 festival featured Led Zeppelin, along with Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull and Buddy Guy at the Spectrum.
Midwest Rock Festival	1969	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.	A music festival held at the State Fair Park on the 25–27 July 1969. The festival featured Led Zeppelin, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The First Edition, Sweetwater, Pacific Gas & Electric, SRC and Shag ; Blind Faith, etc.
Seattle Pop Festival	1969	Woodinville, Washington, U.S.	Twenty-six musicians and groups performed at the festival, including Led Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, Black Snake, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Chicago Transit Authority, Bo Diddley, The Doors, etc. 25–27 July.
Singer Bowl Music Festival	1969	New York City, U.S.	The Singer Bowl Music Festival on 30 August featured Led Zeppelin.
Atlantic City Pop Festival	1969	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	took place in 1969 on 1, 2 and 3 August at the Atlantic City race track, two weeks before Woodstock Festival. Attended by some 100,000+ people, the festival featured the following performers: Creedence Clearwater Revival, Santana, etc.
Woodstock	1969	Bethel, New York, U.S.	This historically and culturally notable festival served as a defining moment for baby boomers. Performers included Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and The Fish, Sly & The Family Stone, Richie Havens, Janis Joplin, The Band, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Santana among many others, with genres such as acoustic music, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock. 15–18 August, audience of over 400,000 young people.
Vancouver Pop Festival	1969	Squamish, British Columbia, Canada	Canadian rock festival held on 22, 23 and 24 August 1969, Paradise Valley Resort, Squamish. It was produced by Candi Promotions. The groups playing at the festival included The Chambers Brothers, Chicago, Alice Cooper, etc.
Texas International Pop Festival	1969	Lewisville, Texas, U.S.	It occurred two weeks after Woodstock. The site for the event was the newly opened Dallas International Motor Speedway. The festival was the brainchild of Angus G. Wynne III, son of Angus G. Wynne, the founder of the Six Flags Over Texas Amusement Park. Artists performing at the festival were: Canned Heat, Chicago, James Cotton, Led Zeppelin, etc. The Merry Pranksters, Ken Kesey's group, was in charge of the free stage and camping area. Attendance at the festival remains unknown, but is estimated between 120,000 and 150,000.
New Orleans Pop Festival	1969	Prairieville, Louisiana, U.S.	On 30 August – 1 September at the Louisiana International Speedway, the festival featured 26 bands, including seven veterans of Woodstock which was held two week prior such as Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane. Peak attendance was estimated at 35,000.
Toronto Rock and Roll Revival	1969	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	One-day, twelve-hour music festival held on 13 September 1969. With a number of popular rock & roll acts from the 1950s and 1960s, it also featured an appearance by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and The Doors.
Palm Beach Pop Festival	1969	Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.	28–30 November 1969, the festival was held at the Palm Beach International Speedway and featured artists such as Janis Joplin, Iron Butterfly, Johnny Winter, King Crimson, Grand Funk Railroad, The Byrds, Vanilla Fudge, Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf and the Rolling Stones. Held only one year. the event met with a number of logistical difficulties, including rain and lack of supplies. The local police also heavily militarized the event, and the promoters were bankrupted.
Altamont Free Concert	1969	Altamont Speedway, California, U.S.	Genres included rock and folk, including blues-rock, folk rock, jazz fusion, Latin rock, and psychedelic rock styles. Actually a free Rolling Stones gig, it featured, in order of appearance: Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, etc. 6 December 1969. One audience member was stabbed to death by the Hells Angels, who were hired as security for the concert.
Miami Rock Festival	1969	Pembroke Pines, Florida, U.S.	27–29 December 1969, held at the Miami-Hollywood Motorsports Park. The lineup included acts such as B.B. King, The Band, Grateful Dead, Motherlode, Santana, Sweetwater, Canned Heat, Vanilla Fudge, and Johnny Winter performed. Police searched fans, making 47 arrests, and a young audience member died after falling from a spotlight tower.