The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 was a music festival held between 26 and 30 August 1970 at Afton Down, an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight in England. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and often acknowledged as the largest musical event of its time, with a larger attendance than Woodstock.[1][2] Although estimates vary, Guinness World Records estimated 600,000 to 700,000 people attended.[3] It was organised and promoted by local brothers, Ron and Ray Foulk through their company Fiery Creations Ltd and their brother Bill Foulk. Ron Smith was site manager and Rikki Farr acted as compere.
The preceding Isle of Wight Festivals, also promoted by the Foulks, had already gained a good reputation in 1968 and 1969 by featuring acts such as Jefferson Airplane, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Move, the Pretty Things, Joe Cocker, the Moody Blues (performed at the 1969 festival), the Who, and Bob Dylan in his second performance since his 1966 motorcycle accident -the first one was just three songs with The Band at a Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert.
Many excerpts from this festival have appeared on record and video.
- ^ Simpson, Matthew (31 August 2011). "Top 10: Highest Attended Concerts of All Time". AskMen. IGN Entertainment. p. 2. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Concerts with Record Attendance". noiseaddicts.com. 19 August 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "The original Isle of Wight festivals – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2020.