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The Yorkshire response to
the forthcoming Isle of Wight Festival of Music where Bob Dylan will top
the bill which includes more than 20 world-famous bands, is described as
“incredible” with nearly 3,000 inquiries a day coming from the county. A
spokesman for the promoters, Yorkshire brothers Ron and Ray Foulk,
directors of Fiery Creations Ltd, I.o.W. told TREND: “Of the 15,000
inquiries a day nearly 3,000 have been from Yorkshire. There’s an
incredible amount of interest there.” He had heard that some Yorkshire
people were organising chartered coach and rail transport to the island.
Ticket Warning.
After the disappearance and recovery of a batch of 2,000 tickets at Euston
Station in London, the organisers have warned the public to buy tickets
only from official agents. Special infra-red systems are being set up at
the turnstiles on I.o.W. to safeguard against phoney tickets. The Festival
- from Friday, August 29 to the Sunday - is being held on 300 acres of
land at Woodside Bay, near Ryde. With a population of only 90,000 and an
estimated Festival attendance of 100,000 the latest ad catch phrase is
“Help Bob Dylan to sink the Isle of Wight”! Special ferries are being laid
on to carry Festival goers from the mainland. “We want as many as possible
to come early to avoid a crush,” said the spokesman. Because of the
tremendous response, the Festival will start a day earlier than previously
scheduled with the Nice and Bonzo Dog appearing on Friday, but only season
ticket holders will be admitted free. Every facility to make it the
Festival of all Festivals has been laid on. There will be 30 marquees,
housing a camping lot, restaurants and cafes, shops, free concerts by
amateur bands, poetry reading and an 800ft long discotheque. The central
spot of the Festival will be a bowl-type arena where Bob Dylan will make
his first appearance in Britain for four years. He will be joined by The
Band, who have never performed this side of the Atlantic before. Bob, who
is writing special material for the Festival, will appear on Sunday
evening “for as long as he wants.” A period of two to three hours has been
envisaged, but this could be extended. Mystery surrounds the Festival fee
to be paid to Bob, but it is known to be “astronomical and one of the
highest ever paid to artists in Britain.” Although Bob will be spending a
few days on the Isle of Wight after the appearance, a telegram from New
York states categorically that he will be doing no other performances.
ON THE BILL. Appearing at the Isle of Wight Festival of Music with Bob
Dylan and The Band will be: The Who, Moody Blues, Julie Felix, Family, Joe
Cocker, The Nice, Bonzo Dog Band, Fat Mattress, Marsha Hunt and the White
Trash, Free, The Pretty Things, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, Pentangle, Gary
Farr, Indo Jazz Fusions, Liverpool Scene, Blodwin Pig, Gypsy, Edgar
Broughton Band, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Blonde on Blonde and King
Crimson. |