Features
Isle Of Wight Festival UK Commemorates 25th Edition With O2 Exhibition
Isle of Wight Festival celebrated its 25th edition this year, June 20-23 – if one includes the three original events held in 1968, 1969, and 1970. To commemorate this special occasion, the O2 London will host an exhibition titled Experience 25 dedicated to the festival’s remarkable history.
Experience 25 will run at the O2’s Innovation Centre Sept. 19–Nov. 13, where visitors will be able to access a rich archive documenting the festival’s most magical moments: from Bob Dylan’s 150,000 strong crowd in 1969 to Hendrix performing in front 500,000 in 1970 to Amy Winehouse’s duet with Mick Jagger in 2007.
Also on display are original images and footage of performances by The Doors, The Who, Joni Mitchell, and more.
“Visitors will travel back in time and be invited into the office of Ray Foulk, the original curator of the first three festivals. Step inside an authentic recreation of Ray’s wonderfully creative and chaotic workspace and see how he and his team put together the historic events with a hippy ethos, overcoming a series of obstacles and dramas along the way,” a press release announcing Experience 25 reads.
Following the 1970 edition, Isle of Wight Festival lay dormant until 2002, when promoter and agent John Giddings revived it, turning it into a UK mainstay that attracts some 60,000 fans each year.
Experience 25 also features many iconic moment from Isle of Wight’s second era, including David Bowie’s headline set in 2004; Jay Z’s performance in 2010; and Dave Grohl cementing himself in rock history in 2011; all the way through to Green Day headlining this year, alongside The Prodigy and Pet Shop Boys.
John Giddings recalled the festival’s history: “The iconic Isle of Wight festival 1970 was the Woodstock of Europe, but the IOW Member of Parliament at the time, in all his wisdom, decided to ban it for 32 years in the form of an act of parliament – allowing others to pick up the baton…
“They let us restart it for the Queen’s jubilee, and it has gone from strength to strength – re-establishing this small island off the south coast of England as a worldwide brand.
“Here is a celebration of the last 22 years, with the original three years added by kind courtesy of Ray Foulk, without whom it, it would not exist…”
Ray Foulk commented, “My family is delighted to contribute to this commemorative show with historic items and archives as it travels from the Island to the O2. It is with great pride that our embryonic rock festivals of more than half a century ago have been so successfully and splendidly revived.”