Mick Jagger, Blondie, Jimi Hendrix & more feature in new exhibition celebrating history of Isle Of Wight Festival
10 September 2024, 18:24 | Updated: 10 September 2024, 18:34
Fans can relive performances from legendary artists such as David Bowie and The Who at Experience 25 - an exhibition dedicated to IOW's history.
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Legends such as The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Blondie are set to form a new exhibition celebrating the history of Isle of Wight Festival.
Marking the 25 years of the event (including its three original instalments in 1968, 1969 and 1970), Experience 25 is an exhibition dedicated to the festival's history, which will run at The O2's Innovation Centre from 19th September - 13th November 2024.
The space will play host to an archive documenting the festival’s most magical moments including Bob Dylan’s 150,000 strong crowd (which included three of The Beatles) in 1969 and Jimi Hendrix shredding in front of an audience of 500,000 in 1970.
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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.
Also on display will be original images and footage of performances by The Doors, The Who, Joni Mitchell and more, who were visited by over half a million people.
The exhibition will then transport guests to 2002, when John Giddings revived the festival, beginning its hugely successful run to the present day.
Here fans can expect to relive epic moments from the likes of David Bowie's stunning headline set in 2004 to Green Day's bill-topping performance just this year.
John Giddings said: “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...
Original IOW organiser Ray Foulk said: “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”.
Experience 25 arrives at London's O2 from 19th September - 13th November 2024.
