Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England.[1] It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970.[2][3]
Isle of Wight Festival | |
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![]() Logo of the 2018 Isle of Wight Festival | |
Genre | Rock, Pop |
Dates | 21–24 June 2018 |
Location(s) | Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight, England |
Years active | 1968–1970 2002–present |
Website | www |
![](../I/Liz_Murray_Photography_-_Isle_of_Wight_Festival_2014_-_Big_Wheel_View_09_main_stage.jpg.webp)
The 1970 event was by far the largest 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.[4]
Original festival
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.[5] 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 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.[6]
The 1970 festival was filmed by a film crew under 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[7]) 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, Jethro Tull, The Doors and Joni Mitchell.
1968
The first festival was held at Ford farm, near Godshill, on 31 August and 1 September 1968, and was attended by about 10,000 people.[8] Jefferson Airplane headlined, with Arthur Brown, The Move, Smile, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Plastic Penny, Fairport Convention, and The Pretty Things also performing.[9]
1969
This took place on 30 and 31 August 1969 at Wootton, with an estimated attendance of 150,000.[8] 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.[10]
1970
This event was held between 26 and 30 August 1970 at Afton Down. Attendance has been estimated by the Guinness Book of Records to have been 600,000 or even 700,000.[11] However promoter Ray Foulk has said he believes it to have been half of that.[8] It was widely reported on, due to its line-up and extremely high attendance. Acts included Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Chicago, The Doors, Lighthouse, The Who (whose set produced a live album), Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Supertramp, 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 + Adam Lambert, David Bowie, Manic Street Preachers, The Who, The High Kings, R.E.M., Travis, Coldplay, The Zombies, The Proclaimers, Bryan Adams, The Police, Foo Fighters, The Killers, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Fleetwood Mac, Madness, Paloma Faith and Kings of Leon. Bowie's 13 June 2004 concert would prove to be his last live performance in the UK following emergency angioplasty in Hamburg after a concert in Germany twelve days later which eventually saw him retire from touring.[12] It was sponsored by Nokia from 2004 to 2006. The promoters of the event now are Solo Promoters Ltd.
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
- Sunday: Bryan Adams, Counting Crows
2004
Held 11–13 June 2004
- Attendance: 35,000 (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Stereophonics, Groove Armada
- Saturday: The Who, Manic Street Preachers
- Sunday: David Bowie, The Charlatans
2005
Held 10–12 June 2005
- Attendance: 50,000 (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Faithless, Razorlight
- Saturday: Travis, Roxy Music
- Sunday: R.E.M., Snow Patrol
2006
Held 9–11 June 2006
- Attendance: 50,000 (approx)[13]
- Headline acts:
- Friday – The Prodigy, Placebo
- Saturday: Foo Fighters, Primal Scream
- Sunday: Coldplay, Richard Ashcroft
2007
Held 8–10 June 2007
- Attendance: 60,000 (approx)[14]
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Snow Patrol, Groove Armada
- Saturday: Muse, Kasabian
- Sunday: The Rolling Stones, Keane
2008
Held 13–15 June 2008
- Attendance: 55,000 (approx)[15]
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Kaiser Chiefs, N.E.R.D
- Saturday: The Sex Pistols, Ian Brown
- Sunday: The Police, The Kooks
2009
Held 12–14 June 2009
- Attendance: 50,000 (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Friday: The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx
- Saturday: Stereophonics, Razorlight
- Sunday: Neil Young, Pixies
2010
Held 11–13 June 2010[16]
- Attendance: 60,000 (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Jay-Z, Florence and the Machine
- Saturday: The Strokes, Blondie
- Sunday: Paul McCartney, P!nk
2011
Held 10–12 June 2011[16]
- Attendance: 65,000 (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs
- Saturday: Foo Fighters, Pulp, Tom Jones (Big Top)
- Sunday: Kasabian, Beady Eye
2012
Held 22–24 June 2012
- Attendance: 55,000 (approx)[17]
- Headline acts:
- Friday: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Elbow
- Saturday: Pearl Jam, Biffy Clyro
- Sunday: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
2013
Held 14–16 June 2013
- Attendance: 58,000 (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Friday: The Stone Roses, Paul Weller
- Saturday: The Killers, Bloc Party
- Sunday: Bon Jovi, The Script
2014
Held 12–15 June 2014
- Attendance:
- Friday: sold out
- Saturday: sold out
- Sunday: 58,000+ (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Thursday: Boy George (Big Top)
- Friday: Calvin Harris, Biffy Clyro
- Saturday: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Specials
- Sunday: Kings of Leon, Suede
2015
Held 11–14 June 2015
- Attendance: 58,000+ (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Thursday: Billy Idol (Big Top)
- Friday: The Prodigy, The Black Keys
- Saturday: Blur, Pharrell Williams
- Sunday: Fleetwood Mac, Paolo Nutini
2016
Held 9–12 June 2016
- Attendance: 58,000+ (approx)
- Headline acts:
- Thursday: Status Quo (Big Top)
- Friday: Faithless, Stereophonics
- Saturday: The Who, Richard Ashcroft
- Sunday: Queen + Adam Lambert, Ocean Colour Scene
2017
Held 8–11 June 2017
- Attendance: 45,000+
- Headline acts:
- Thursday: Razorlight (Big Top)
- Friday: David Guetta, Run-D.M.C.
- Saturday: Arcade Fire, Catfish and the Bottlemen
- Sunday: Rod Stewart, Bastille
2018
Held 21–24 June 2018
- Attendance: 72,000
- Headline acts:
- Thursday: The Wombats (Big Top)
- Friday: Kasabian, The Script
- Saturday: Depeche Mode, Liam Gallagher
- Sunday: The Killers, Manic Street Preachers
2019
Held 13–16 June 2019
- Attendance: 59,000
- Headline Acts:
- Thursday: Wet Wet Wet (Big Top)
- Friday: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
- Saturday: George Ezra, Fatboy Slim
- Sunday: Biffy Clyro
2020
The 2020 event, which had been scheduled for 11–15 June, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]
- Originally scheduled headline acts:
- Thursday: Happy Mondays (Big Top)
- Friday: Lionel Richie, Lewis Capaldi
- Saturday: Snow Patrol, The Chemical Brothers
- Sunday: Duran Duran, Dido, The Libertines
On 12–14 June 2020, Absolute Radio and Sky Arts both held virtual festivals, broadcasting selected acts from the festival's archives, including exclusive footage from the 1970 edition.[19][20]
2021
The 2021 event is scheduled to take place on 17–20 June.[21]
- Headline acts:[22]
- Friday: Lionel Richie, Lewis Capaldi
- Saturday: Snow Patrol, Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra presents Ibiza Classics conducted by Jules Buckley ft. Maxi Jazz of Faithless
- Sunday: Duran Duran
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | UK Festival Awards | Best Major Festival | N/A | Won | [23] |
Outstanding Contribution to UK Festivals | John Giddings | Won | |||
2009 | ILMC 21 Arthur Awards | Liggers' Favourite Festival | N/A | Won | [24] |
2015 | UK Festival Awards | Best Family Festival | N/A | Won | [25] |
Headline Performance of the Year | Fleetwood Mac | Won | |||
Isle of Wight Visitor Attraction Association Awards | Best Activity/Event | N/A | Won | [26] | |
Festival Baby Awards | Best Festival | N/A | Won | ||
2016 | Family Traveller Awards | Best Family Festival | N/A | Won | [27] |
ILMC 28 Arthur Awards | Liggers' Favourite Festival | N/A | Nominated | ||
Live Music Business Awards | Best Festival | N/A | Won | [28] | |
Red Funnel Isle of Wight Awards | Best Event to Lie Back & Soak Up the Sounds | N/A | Won | [29] | |
2017 | ILMC 29 Arthur Awards | Liggers' Favourite Festival | N/A | Nominated | |
Red Funnel Isle of Wight Awards | Best Event to Lie Back & Soak Up the Sounds | N/A | Won | [30] | |
2018 | Red Funnel Isle of Wight Awards | Best Event to Lie Back & Soak Up the Sounds | N/A | Won | [31] |
Audio Production Awards | Best New Producer | Nick Harris | Won | [32] | |
Event Production Awards | Music Event of the Year | N/A | Won | [33] | |
ILMC 30 Arthur Awards | Liggers' Favourite Festival | N/A | Nominated | ||
Music Week Awards | Festival of the Year | N/A | Nominated | [34] | |
Radio Academy Awards | Best Coverage of an Event | Absolute Radio | Nominated | [35] | |
Best New Presenter | James Bay | Nominated | |||
Best Factual Storytelling | N/A | Nominated | |||
Q Awards | Best Festival/Event | N/A | Nominated | [36] | |
UK Festival Awards | Best Festival Production | N/A | Nominated | [37] | |
Best Major Festival | N/A | Nominated | |||
Line-Up of the Year | N/A | Nominated | |||
2019 | Broadcast Awards | Best Music Programme | N/A | Nominated | [38] |
Event Production Awards | Music Event of the Year | N/A | Nominated | [39] | |
Live Music Business Awards | Best Festival Performance | Biffy Clyro | Nominated | [40] | |
Music Week Awards | Festival of the Year | N/A | Nominated | [41] | |
Q Awards | Q Best Festival/Event | N/A | Nominated | [42] | |
2020 | Pollstar Awards | International Music Festival of the Year | N/A | Nominated | [43] |
References
- "Isle of Wight Festival". festivalessentials.net. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- "History Isle of Wight Festival History | Red Funnel Isle of Wight Ferries". Redfunnel.co.uk. 1970-09-01. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
- Perrone, Pierre (24 April 2013). "Richie Havens: Folk singer and songwriter who became a hero of the counter-culture". The Independent. London.
- "Isle of Wight Festival History 1968–2013". Isleofwightfestival.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- "BBC Hampshire History – Isle of Wight Festival history". BBC. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- Isle of Wight County Council Act 1971, c.lxxi, ss.5–6
- "Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival". 21 February 1997 – via IMDb.
- "2010 audio interview with Ray Foulk". Onthewight.com. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- Hinton, Brian (1995). Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festivals, 1968–70. Castle Communications. p. 21. ISBN 1-86074-147-9.
- "Isle of Wight Festival History – 1968 to today". Isle of Wight Guru. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
- "The original Isle of Wight festivals – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- "David Bowie's agent says the musician has 'performed his last live show'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- "Nokia Isle of Wight Festival 2006". Isle of Wight Council. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- "Isle of Wight Festival 2007". Isle of Wight Council. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- "Isle of Wight Festival 2008". Isle of Wight Council. Archived from the original on 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- Archived January 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers to headline UK festival". BBC News. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
- Brandle, Lars (27 March 2020). "Isle of Wight Festival 2020 Is Canceled Due to Coronavirus". Billboard. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- "Absolute Radio to host virtual Isle of Wight Festival featuring classic performances". Absolute Radio. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- Peacock, Tim (11 June 2020). "Virtual Isle Of Wight Festival To Be Televised This Coming Weekend". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- Jones, Damian (2020-03-30). "Isle Of Wight Festival announces new dates and ticket details for 2021". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. Archived from the original on 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
- "Huge 2021 Line Up Announced". isleofwightfestival.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
- "And the Winners Were…". European Festival Awards. 16 January 2014. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
- "Arthurs Hall of Fame – ILMC". www.ilmc.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
- "The UKFA 2015 Winners | UK Festival Awards". www.festivalawards.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
- Island Echo (2016-03-23). "ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL WINS BEST EVENT IN VISITOR ATTRACTION AWARDS". Retrieved 2020-06-12.
- "2016 Winners – Family Traveller". familytraveller.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "All the winners from the Live Music Business Awards". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "My Isle of Wight 2016 Award Winners". www.redfunnel.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
- "My Isle of Wight 2017 Award Winners".
- "My Isle of Wight 2018 Award Winners".
- "2018 Audio Production Awards – shortlist". RadioToday. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- Media, Mash. "Event Production Awards 2020 – Winners 2018". eventproductionawards.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "2018 Music Week Awards: And the nominees are..." www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "2018 ARIAS Nominees". Radio Academy. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "Q Awards 2018 Shortlist Nominations Announced!". Q Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "Shortlists 2018 | UK Festival Awards 2019". Archived from the original on 2019-06-21.
- "Broadcast Awards shortlist 2019 revealed". Broadcast. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- Wood, Stuart (2019-03-15). "Winners announced for the 2019 Event Production Awards!". Access All Areas. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "Make Your Vote Count". awards.livemusicawards.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "2019 Music Week Awards finalists revealed..." www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "Q Awards 2019 shortlist nominations announced". www.recordoftheday.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "31st Annual Pollstar Awards To Honor The Year's Best". www.pollstar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isle of Wight Festival. |
- Isle of Wight Festival
- Isle of Wight Festival Official MySpace
- Ray Foulk on The History of the Isle of Wight Festival
- Isle of Wight County Press gallery of Festival pictures
- Information on the Original IOW Festivals
- 1970 Isle of Wight Festival Veterans
- Isle of Wight Festival Rumours
- Memorabilia from the Original Isle of Wight Festivals 1968-69-70