UK Festivals that began before Glastonbury. Glastonbury Festival is known worldwide. It is the largest greenfield festival on the planet and has a rich history dating back to its first festival in 1970.
However, Glastonbury wasn’t the first festival of its kind in the UK. There were several festivals over the years before those first punters walked onto Worthy Farm. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music (1970)
The festival that inspired Michael Eavis to start his own at nearby Worthy Farm! The Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music was held at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, on 27–29 June 1970.
Artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Byrds, and Frank Zappa played. The estimated crowd was between 150,000 and 200,000! So basically, the same as what Glastonbury roughly gets.
The festival started at midday on the 27th (a Saturday) and finished on the following Monday at about 6:30 am. John Peel played records for people arriving early from the Friday evening and continued to do so between many of the sets until the end. Who would have known that a few decades later he would have a stage named after him at a nearby farm!
There was also an alternative festival staged in an adjoining field, where the Pink Fairies and Hawkwind played on the back of a flatbed lorry.
Michael Eavis was so inspired by the event that, less than 4 months later, the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival (the first Glastonbury Festival) was held. It was meant to be just a one-off festival to help him pay the mortgage. In fact, he lost money (as many festivals in those days did). Thankfully, he decided to put on a few more festivals since that first one!
If you bring your campervan to Glastonbury Festival, one of the areas where you pitch up is the Royal Bath and West Showground, so you are on hallowed ground!
The National Jazz and Blues Festival (1961)
The first National Jazz Festival took place on August 26–27, 1961, at the Richmond Athletic Ground in London. Organised by Marquee Club (a venue in Soho, London) founder Harold Pendleton, it showcased British and American jazz. This festival is the precursor to the Reading and Leeds festivals.
Headline acts included Johnny Dankworth and Chris Barber. Inspiration for the event came from the Newport Jazz Festival, held in the US since 1954.
In 1964, the festival changed its name to “The National Jazz and Blues Festival”, reflecting the shift in musical tastes in Britain in the early 1960s. Gradually, the jazz component of the festival was whittled away, and by 1967, the festival was featuring the likes of Cream, Fleetwood Mac and Jeff Beck, whilst the jazz groups were relegated to an afternoon session.
The Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival (1967)
The Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival in 1967 was a pivotal festival in the evolution of UK festivals. Around 50,000 people saw the likes of Cream, Fleetwood Mac and Jeff Beck. The crossover of different music genres had begun, which has continued to this day.
Held at Balloon Meadow at the Royal Windsor Racecourse, the festival was on for 3 nights. There were lots of sound and technical issues during the festival, and a lot of the crowd could not hear some of the music. I think we take it for granted now how smoothly most sets at festivals go.
Other notable acts that played are: The Small Faces, Arthur Brown and Donovan. Pink Floyd were replaced by The Nice, as Floyd had to cancel, as by this time Syd Barrett was just unable to function on-stage in any reliable sort of musical capacity.
The Woburn Abbey Blues Festival (1968)
The Woburn Abbey Blues Festival in Bedfordshire also helped pave the way for Glastonbury. In fact, the first Glastonbury headliner T-Rex was on the bill here. There were also the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Donovan and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
Blues was huge at the time, especially in London. This festival pushed British Blues to a wider audience. It is no coincidence that Michael Eavis called the first Glastonbury Festival the “Pilton Pop, Folk and Blues Festival.
Around 14,000 people attended the 2-day event, and the ticket price was £2. £2 to see Jimi Hendrix. Bargain!
The Isle of Wight Festival (1968)
The first Isle of Wight Festival took place on August 31 and September 1, 1968, at Ford Farm near Godshill. The attendance was around 15,ooo was was small compared to the 1969 and 1970 ones.
The actual name of the festival was The Great South Coast Bank Holiday Pop Festivity. A bit of a mouthful!
Jefferson Airplane were the main headliners, paving the way for the likes of Bob Dylan (1969) and Jimi Hendrix (1970) to play at the following festivals. Arthur Brow, T. Rex, and Pretty Things also played.
There were many more festivals held in the UK before the first Glastonbury. I will add more as I come across them, but these 5 helped pave the way to the Glastonbury we know and love. Were you at any of these festivals? Let me know on social media or by email.
See you on the farm!
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