Isle of Wight Festival



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.

Original Festival details
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 Woodstock. 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 Woodstock. 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.

The 1970 festival was filmed by a 35mm film crew under the direction of future Academy Award-winning director Murray Lerner who at that point had just directed the Academy Award-nominated documentary Festival of the Newport Folk Festival. The footage passed to Lerner in settlement of legal fees after a dispute with the Foulk brothers in which each side claimed against the other for breach of contract. Lerner distilled material from the festival into the film Message to Love (released on video in the US as Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival: The Movie ) released theatrically in 1996 and subsequently on DVD. In addition to this film, Lerner has created full-length films focused on performances by individual artists at the 1970 festival. To date there have been individual films of Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Moody Blues, Free, Taste, Leonard Cohen and Jethro Tull.

1968
Held on 31 August and 1 September 1968. Attendance: 10,000 (approx) Site – Ford farm, near Godshill. Headline Acts – Jefferson Airplane. Other Acts – Arthur Brown, The Move, Smile, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Plastic Penny, Fairport Convention, and The Pretty Things.

1969
This took place on 30 and 31 August 1969 at Wootton, with an estimated attendance of 150,000. The line-up included Bob Dylan, The Band, The Nice, The Pretty Things, Marsha Hunt, The Who, Third Ear Band, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Fat Mattress, Joe Cocker. Many celebrities of the day also attended the Festival, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, George Harrison with Pattie Boyd, Ringo Starr with Maureen Starkey, Keith Richards and Jane Fonda.

1970
This event was held between 26 and 30 August 1970 at Afton Down; attendance has long been estimated to have been around 600,000, although promoter Ray Foulk has said he believes it to have been only half that. Arguably the best-remembered of the early versions of the IoW festivals, due to its line-up, attendance and news coverage, the line-up included Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Chicago, The Doors, Lighthouse, The Who (their set produced a live album), Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Moody Blues, Joan Baez, Free, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Kris Kristofferson, Donovan, John Sebastian, Terry Reid, Taste, and Shawn Phillips.

Revived festival details
The event was revived in 2002 at Seaclose Park, a recreation ground on the outskirts of Newport. It has been held annually since that year, progressively extending itself northwards beyond Seaclose Park along the fields of the eastern Medina valley. Many notable artists have performed since its revival including The Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Paul McCartney, Muse, Boy George, Stereophonics, Faithless, Donovan, Ray Davies, Robert Plant, Queen, David Bowie, Manic Street Preachers, The Who,  R.E.M., Coldplay, The Zombies, The Proclaimers, Bryan Adams, The Police, Foo Fighters, Fleetwood Mac and Kings of Leon. It was sponsored by Nokia from 2004 to 2006. The promoters of the event now are Solo Promoters Ltd. Apart from being held on the Isle of Wight, and featuring the now customary artwork of Dave Roe, there is no connection with the festivals of 1968–1970.

2002
Held 3 June 2002 Attendance: 8,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Saturday) – The Charlatans, Robert Plant

2003
Held 14–15 June 2003 Attendance: 15,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Saturday) – Paul Weller, Starsailor Headline Acts (Sunday) – Bryan Adams, Counting Crows

2004
Held 11–13 June 2004 Attendance: 35,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Stereophonics, Groove Armada Headline Acts (Saturday) – The Who, Manic Street Preachers Headline Acts (Sunday) – David Bowie, The Charlatans

2005
Held 10–12 June 2005 Attendance: 50,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Faithless, Razorlight Headline Acts (Saturday) – Travis, Roxy Music Headline Acts (Sunday) – R.E.M., Snow Patrol

2006
Held 9–11 June 2006 Attendance: 50,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – The Prodigy, Placebo Headline Acts (Saturday) – Foo Fighters, Primal Scream Headline Acts (Sunday) – Coldplay, Richard Ashcroft

2007
Held 8–10 June 2007 Attendance: 60,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Snow Patrol, Groove Armada Headline Acts (Saturday) – Muse, Kasabian Headline Acts (Sunday) – The Rolling Stones, Keane

2008
Held 13–15 June 2008 Attendance: 55,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Kaiser Chiefs, N.E.R.D Headline Acts (Saturday) – The Sex Pistols, Ian Brown Headline Acts (Sunday) – The Police, The Kooks

2009
Held 12–14 June 2009 Attendance: 50,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx Headline Acts (Saturday) – Stereophonics, Razorlight, Headline Acts (Sunday) – Neil Young, Pixies

2010
Held 11–13 June 2010 Attendance: 60,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Jay-Z, Florence and the Machine Headline Acts (Saturday) – The Strokes, Blondie Headline Acts (Sunday) – Paul McCartney, P!nk

2011
Held 10–12 June 2011 Attendance: 65,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs Headline Acts (Saturday) – Foo Fighters, Pulp Headline Acts (Sunday) – Kasabian, Beady Eye

2012
Held 22–24 June 2012 Attendance: 55,000 (approx) Headline Acts (Friday) – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Elbow Headline Acts (Saturday) – Pearl Jam, Biffy Clyro Headline Acts (Sunday) – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band

2013
Held 14–16 June 2013 Attendance: 58,000 (approx) Headline Act (Friday) - The Stone Roses, Paul Weller Headline Act (Saturday) - The Killers, Bloc Party Headline Act (Sunday) - Bon Jovi, The Script

2014
Held 12–15 June 2014 Friday Attendance:  Sold Out Saturday Attendance: Sold Out Sunday Attendance:  58,000+ (approx)

Headline Act (Thursday) - Boy George (Big Top) Headline Act (Friday) - Calvin Harris, Biffy Clyro Headline Act (Saturday) - Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Specials Headline Act (Sunday) - Kings Of Leon, Suede

2015
Held 11–14 June 2015 Attendance:  58,000+ (approx)

Headline Act (Thursday) - Billy Idol (Big Top) Headline Act (Friday) - The Prodigy, The Black Keys Headline Act (Saturday) - Blur, Pharrell Williams Headline Act (Sunday) - Fleetwood Mac, Paolo Nutini

2016
Held 9–12 June 2016 Attendance:  58,000+ (approx)

Headline Act (Thursday) - Status Quo (Big Top) Headline Act (Friday) - Faithless, Stereophonics Headline Act (Saturday) - The Who, Richard Ashcroft Headline Act (Sunday) - Queen + Adam Lambert, Ocean Colour Scene

Awards
On 6 November 2007, the Isle of Wight Festival was named 'Best Major Festival' at the UK Festival Awards. The performances by Muse and The Rolling Stones at the last festival were a major influence. At the same event, the coordinator of the festival, John Giddings, won the award for 'Outstanding Contribution to UK festivals'. At the 2015 Awards, the Isle of Wight Festival won the award for 'Best Family Festival' and 'Headline Performance of the Year' for Fleetwood Mac.

The Festival also won 'Best Event', Isle of Wight Visitor Attraction Association Awards, 2015 and is nominatied for Best Family Festival at the 2016 Family Traveller Awards. Results coming soon.