The second Glastonbury Festival in England took place

The second Glastonbury Festival in England took place. Held over 5 days to coincide with the summer solstice, (the weather was, for a British 'summer' very good). Acts who appeared included: Melanie, Quintessence, David Bowie, The Edgar Broughton Band, Pink Fairies, Terry Reid - with David Lyndley and Linda Lewis, Gong, Hawkwind, Arthur Brown, Brinsley Schwarz, Fairport Convention, Family and Traffic. Over 7,000 fans attended the event on June 22, 1971

The Glastonbury festival was heavily influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement in the early 1970s, beginning with the Isle of Wight Festival, which featured performances by The Who, amongst other artists.

Afterward, organiser Michael Eavis stated that he decided to host the first festival, then called Pilton Festival, after seeing an open air Led Zeppelin concert at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music 1970 at the nearby Bath and West Showground in 1970. The festival retains vestiges of this tradition such as the Green Fields area which includes the Green Futures and Healing Field.

The Glastonbury music festival takes place in South West England at Worthy Farm between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle, six miles east of the town of Glastonbury, overlooked by the Glastonbury Tor in the mystical "Vale of Avalon". The area has a number of legends and spiritual traditions, and is a "New Age" site of interest: several ley lines are considered to converge on the Tor. The nearest town to the festival site is Shepton Mallet, three miles (5 km) north east, but there continues to be interaction between the people espousing alternative lifestyles living in Glastonbury and the festival itself. The farm is situated between the A361 and A37 roads.

The first Glastonbury festival at Worthy Farm was the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival, mounted by Michael Eavis in September 1970, and attended by 1,500 people.

The first act to perform was the group Stackridge; the headline act was originally Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders but this act was replaced at short notice by Tyrannosaurus Rex, later known as T.Rex.

The larger free festival at the summer solstice in June the next year was the first to attract nationwide interest, and the event became an important precursor of the later Glastonbury Festivals. The Glastonbury Fayre of 1971 was instigated by Andrew Kerr and organised with help from Arabella Churchill, Thomas Crimble, Bill Harkin, Gilberto Gil, Mark Irons, and Jytte Klamer. The 1971 festival featured the first incarnation of the "Pyramid Stage" conceived by Bill Harkin, built from scaffolding and metal sheeting.

Performers included David Bowie, Traffic, Fairport Convention, Quintessence, Hawkwind, Skin Alley, The Worthy Farm Windfuckers and Melanie. It was paid for by its supporters and advocates of its ideal, and embraced a mediaeval tradition of music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment. The 1971 festival was filmed by Nicolas Roeg and David Puttnam and was released as a film called simply Glastonbury Fayre.

There was a small unplanned event in 1978, when the convoy of vehicles from the Stonehenge festival was directed by police to Worthy Farm; the festival was then revived the following year (1979) by Churchill, Crimble, Kerr and Eavis, in an event for the Year of the Child, which lost money.

Retro History for June 22 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1987 Tom Seaver retires after 3rd try with New York Mets
1986 Judy Dickinson wins LPGA Rochester Golf International
1986 Spain's premier Gonzalez' Socialist Party wins elections
1985 "Grind" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City after 79 performances
1985 "Smuggler's Blues" by Glenn Frey peaks at #12
1984 Calvin Griffith signs letter of intent to sell ownership of Twins
1984 Carl Pohlad becomes CEO of Minnesota Twins
1984 Jolande van de Meer swims Dutch record 800 m freestyle (8:39.30)
1984 Joseph Luns resigns as Secretary-General of NATO
1983 "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life," released in France
1983 1st time a satellite is retrieved from orbit, by Space Shuttle
1983 NHL institutes a 5 minute sudden death overtime period
1982 Manhattan institutes bus-only lanes
1982 Pete Rose gets his 3,772nd hit, moves past Aaron into 2nd place
1982 Prince Chuck and Lady Di take Prince William home from hospital
1982 Susan Lea Hammett, of Miss, 18, crowned 25th America's Junior Miss
1981 2 Habash terrorists attack a travel agency in Greece killing 2
1981 Iran president Bani Sadr deposed
1981 John McEnroe exhibits a disgraceful act of misbehavior at Wimbledon
1981 Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon
1980 Jim King begins riding Miracle Strip Roller coaster 368 hours
1980 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Lady Keystone Golf Open

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 Larry Holmes TKOs Mike Weaver in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1979 Little Richard quits rock and roll for religious pursuit
1979 Pro Football Researchers Association forms, Canton, Ohio
1978 James Christy's discovery of Pluto's moon Charon announced
1978 Neo-Nazis call off plans to march in Jewish community of Skokie, Illinois
1977 Former AG John Mitchell starts 19 months in Alabama prison
1977 Walt Disney's "Rescuers" released
1976 "Godspell" opens at Broadhurst Theater New York City for 527 performances
1976 San Diego Padre pitcher Randy Jones ties record of 68 innings without a walk
1975 Betsy Cullen wins LPGA Hoosier Golf Classic
1973 Dutch High Council stops fluorine addition to drink water
1973 George Harrison releases "Living in the Material World"
1973 Skylab 2's astronauts land
1972 "Man of La Mancha" opens at Beaumont Theater New York City for 140 performances
1971, The second Glastonbury Festival in England took place. Held over 5 days to coincide with the summer solstice, (the weather was, for a British 'summer' very good). Acts who appeared included: Melanie, Quintessence, David Bowie, The Edgar Broughton Band, Pink Fairies, Terry Reid - with David Lyndley and Linda Lewis, Gong, Hawkwind, Arthur Brown, Brinsley Schwarz, Fairport Convention, Family and Traffic. Over 7,000 fans attended the event.
1970 President Nixon signs 26th amendment, voting age lowered to 18
1970 Supreme Court ruled juries of less than 12 are constitutional
1970 WSWO TV channel 26 in Springfield, OH (ABC) suspends broadcasting

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 Cleveland's Cuyahgo River catches fire
1969 Susie Berning wins LPGA Pabst Ladies' Golf Classic
1968 "Here Come Da Judge" by The Buena Vistas peaks at #88
1966 "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opens
1965 Freddie Trueman ends his Test cricket career, vs. New Zealand at Lord's
1963 "Little" Stevie Wonder (13) releases "Fingertips"
1962 1st test flight of Hoovercraft
1962 French Boeing 707 crashes at Guadeloupe, 113 killed
1961 Moise Tsjombe freed from prison in Congo
1961 Beatles record Aint She Sweet, Cry for a Shadow, When the Saints Go Marching In, Why, Nobody's Child and My Bonnie, in Hamburg

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1959 "Along Came Jones" by Coasters peaks at #9
1959 "Class" by Chubby Checker peaks at #38
1959 Eddie Lubanski bowls 2 consecutive perfect games
1959 Most Phillies strike out in a game (16 by Sandy Koufax)
1959 Shunryu Suzuki completes his historical Japan to San Francisco voyage
1958 Game in Kansas City between A's and Red Sox delayed 29 minutes due to tornado
1958 Patty Berg wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1955 Antonio Segni forms government in Italy
1955 U.S. air patrol plane shot down above Bering sea
1954 Congress passes revised organic act for Virgin Islands
1951 Gene Rayburn and Dee Finch show premieres on NBC radio

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


- Retro Rebirth

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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! The second Glastonbury Festival in England coincides with the summer solstice.