How they used to do music festivals back in the day

21 June 2025, 13:00

The humble festival has been with us for over 50 years now. So how did your parents - or grandparents, even - enjoy the festival experience?

By Radio X

@RadioX

What were the differences? What were the similarities? What sort of bands were they watching? And, most importantly, what were the toilets like? Here are some brilliant archive photos of festivals from the1960s through to the 1980s.

1. Fans arrive at the Isle Of Wight for the 1970 "Pop Festival". They're looking forward to seeing The Who, Jimi Hendrix and the final UK performance of The Doors with Jim Morrison.

   

2. Festival goers start to arrive for a lo-fi-looking Reading Festival in August 1980. They were there to see Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Def Leppard and more.

   

3. If you lost your mates in 1970, how did you get in touch with them in the pre-mobile era? Leave a message on the message wall, of course! And then hope for the best.

   

4. Living under canvas, Glastonbury Festival, 1971. These lucky festival goers could have been watching David Bowie's first Glasto performance the next day.

   

5. Reading Festival grew out of the National Jazz Festival in Richmond in the early 60s. By the start of the next decade, the event had moved to Reading and adopted a crowd that favoured heavy rock. This is the view from the stage in 1973, when Status Quo and Genesis played.

   

6. There was less of a stage show in the early days of British festivals, as this image from the Isle Of Wight in 1970 demonstrates.

   

7. The stage at Reading Festival in 1971. It's a bit "basic"

   

8. An early attempt at some mid-festival promo for The Doors at the Isle Of Wight Festival 1970

   

9. Forget "Follow us on Instagram" - at Reading in the 1976, you were encouraged to sign up with the "Daily Mirror Pop Club". Whatever that was.

   

10. British festivals always had connections with the counter-culture. In 1981, Glastonbury joined forces with CND - the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament, which protested against the arms race.

    

11. Deckchairs at a festival? That was a thing. Imagine that happening now!

    

12. The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 1993 - note the complete lack of flags!

    

13. One thing hasn't changed... the long trudge home

    

14. ...or the post-festival clear-up