Interview
“I don’t like being
quoted on the
figure. My way
of putting it is
that we had a
bigger crowd than
Woodstock, aerial
photographs
prove that.”
Pete Townsend jumping for the festival crowd
year later the same journalist cited
the Island as ‘how to do a great
Festival’. The big problem for us
was cash flow – to do a Festival
you needed a lot of money, so
we were always up against it.”
Because of 1969 success,
suddenly every artist wanted to
play the Isle of Wight Festival, even
though one local media outlet led
a campaign to try to stop any more
festivals here. Ray continued: “We
spent a lot of time in early 1970
trying to find a proper site, but
there were campaigns against us
wherever we went. Eventually we
came up with Afton Down in West
Wight, where there was plenty of
open ground. and we weren’t going
to be a nuisance to lots of people.
We were also based in Totland
and Freshwater, so when meetings
were called to discuss the idea, they
were packed with our supporters!”
By 1970 Bert Block had
become a major American agent
and booked many acts for the
brothers, including Joni Mitchell,
Leonard Cohen and Chicago,
while Jimi Hendrix and The Doors
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www.visitilife.com
came from London agencies.
Hundreds of thousands of
revellers converged on Afton
Down for the iconic event. There
were reports that as many as
700,000 attended, but Ray’s
estimate is far more conservative.
He said: “I don’t like being quoted
on the figure. My way of putting it
is that we had a bigger crowd than
Woodstock, aerial photographs
prove that. They claimed
400,000 at Woodstock, which
is ridiculous, and 600,000 for
the Isle of Wight was completely
over the top. Maybe more like
300,000, but still pretty massive.”
The Isle of Wight Act, drawn up
soon after the 1970 Festival, went
through Parliament, preventing
any more such gatherings here
for the following 32 years. But Ray
admitted: “We were moving on,
and I’m not sure we would have
done another one. We had also
lost an awful lot of money and
were pretty fed up with the whole
situation. When the Isle of Wight
Bill was passed it put the tin lid
on it anyway, although efforts to
make that Bill become national
failed. Otherwise there would
have never been big festivals on
the mainland like Glastonbury.”
After other ventures, Ray briefly
thought about resurrecting the
Isle of Wight Festival in 1994.
He obtained the licence but
couldn’t get the bands in time.
The following year he lined up
several top acts, but the licence
was refused by the Council.
So the IW Festival remained
mothballed until 2002, when the
new era began under the guidance
of John Giddings. The rest, as they
say, is history, with this year’s event
from June 21st to 24th attracting,
among many, music giants Van
Morrison and Liam Gallagher.
“It’s great for the Island, and I
really hope it stays for many years
to come,” Ray added. “The one
thing I would loved to have done
was hold a Fringe Festival right
across the Island, in conjunction
with the IW Festival; similar
to Edinburgh, but just music.
I still think it would work, and
maybe one day it will happen.”