rock festivals

   Taking their cue from both the major US rock festivals of the late 1960s (Woodstock, Monterey and so on), and from the existing jazz and blues festivals that began in the 1950s, the British rock festival circuit has grown in size and become the most prestigious of its kind in the world. The first major British festival was held on the Isle of Wight in 1970, attracting artists such as Bob Dylan, The Band and Jimi Hendrix. Originally intended as a commercial venture, it fell prey to the same problems encountered at the earlier Woodstock festival, most notably lack of security. The festival became free to all-comers, and attracted a crowd of around 150,000.

   Also in 1970, a Somerset farmer decided to put on a low-key free festival with mostly unknown acts (including T-Rex and David Bowie), headlined by folk singer Donovan. The Glastonbury Festival (actually based at Pilton, Somerset, some miles away) quickly became a semi-permanent feature during the summer months, and is still the most important rock festival of the season. The numbers that gather at Glastonbury confirm the enduring popularity of outdoor rock events, with over 100,000 paying customers each year. True to the hippie ideal of festivals, most of the proceeds go to good causes, both global and local. Going from strength to strength, the importance of the festival in promoting and resurrecting careers is clear to many artists. Following appearances at Glastonbury during the 1990s, the careers of Tom Jones, Tony Bennett and Lou Reed had massive resurgence, opening up their music to a new, younger audience.

   The main rival to Glastonbury is the Reading Rock Festival, a descendant of the Reading Blues and Jazz festival. The rising popularity of the festival is shown in the huge commercial possibilities opened up by having a captive audience of tens of thousands for a three-day period. This potential was quickly seized upon by promoters, particularly during the early 1990s, when many smaller festivals began to be promoted. The Phoenix festival, V96 (-97, -98, etc.), T in the Park (based in Scotland), and other smaller one-day events quickly became an integral part of the summer festival scene, as did genre based events (Monsters of Rock, Futurama) and artist-led outdoor concerts (Knebworth and Crystal Palace, for example). The commercial bubble appeared to have burst, however, in 1998, when many of the smaller events, and notably the large Phoenix festival, failed to sell a sufficient amount of tickets to be financially viable and so were cancelled.

   See also: concert promoters; hippies; WOMAD

   Further reading

    Clarke, M.J. (1982) The Politics of Pop Festivals, London: Junction Books.

   SAM JOHNSTONE