The venue's Innovation Centre is displaying archive images, film and artefacts documenting the festival's magic moments, from Bob Dylan playing to a 150,000-strong crowd in 1969, to Amy Winehouse duetting with Mick Jagger in 2007. The three original events were held in 1968, ‘69 and ‘70 curated by Ray Foulk and his brothers – the 1970 one being ‘The Last Great Event’ with acts including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who and Joni Mitchell. Jimi Hendrix played the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 (Image: Peter Bull) The festival was revived in 2002 by promoter John Giddings and has seen performances by Robbie Williams, Blondie, Pulp, Fleetwood Mac, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Pink and The Who among others.
Experience 25 runs at the O2 in Greenwich until November 13th and invites visitors into an authentic recreation of Ray Foulk's office. From this chaotic workspace he and his team put together events with a hippy ethos, overcoming a series of obstacles and dramas along the way. Also on display are original images and footage of performances by The Doors, The Who, Joni Mitchell, and Hendrix shredding in front a 500,000 strong crowd in 1970.
Amy Winehouse performed a duet with Mick Jagger in 2007 (Image: Simon Wells) Visitors are then transported to 2002, when the revived festival began its hugely successful run to the present day. It now hosts 60,000 music fans a year with highlights including David Bowie’s headline set in 2004, Jay Z�.
