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First Isle of Wight Festival 1968
The Isle of Wight Festival 1968 billed as The Great South Coast Bankholiday Pop Festivity is a countercultural event which provided the origins of the Isle of Wight Festivals of Music. It took place on the Isle of Wight at the central southerly location of Ford Farm, Roud, Near Godshill, on a field known locally as either Hayles Field or Hell Field]].

Origin
Ronald Foulk, also ‘Ron’ or ‘Ronnie,’ was invited to become a part-time fundraiser for The Isle of Wight Indoor Swimming Pool Association (IWISPA ) by committee member, local estate agent and Isle of Wight county councillor Steve Ross (later Liberal MP for the Isle of Wight). Discussions between the three Foulk brothers Ronnie, Ray (Raymond Ian Barnes) and Bill (John Philip) led to ideas around a dance or jazz festival. Bill Foulk stipulated that the genre should be pop music. Ronnie Foulk sought farmland and performing artists suitable for a one day or all-night music festival. In the planning stages the brothers were met with some hostility and made an undertaking to local people and the local NFU group to say that they would be held responsible for any damage incurred during the event. Ray Foulk printed posters, flyers and tickets from his printing presses at Solent Graphics Ltd located in Totland Bay.

Association with IWISPA
IWISPA had previously advertised for a fund raiser: “I.W. Indoor Swimming Pool Association/Will you help!/Interesting, paid, seasonal, fund raising position to be filled immediately./Swimming Pool (indoor and heated) for the Island./Phone, write or call Hon. Treasurer./“Our Aim is your gain.”/H.A.Jackson,Esq.,. .” This advertisement appeared before Ronnie Foulk’s introduction to the committee by Steve Ross. IWISPA engaged Foulk who returned to them shortly afterwards with proposals to stage a one day music festival. The association advanced £750 to finance the fund raising event, set for Saturday 31 August. By mid-August IWISPA’s committee became concerned about potential adverse publicity and informed Foulk that they wished to withdraw from the project, leaving the Foulk brothers to take over the festival as their own. IWISPA agreed to allow their £750 investment to remain until after the event, when it was duly returned.

Organising the Event
Ronnie Foulk borrowed £1000 from childhood friend Malcolm Gould, who had recently recieved a pay off upon leaving the Army Air Corps. Foulk assembled a small team comprised of Ray Foulk, printing and publicity; younger brother, Bill Foulk, then studying Film and Television at the Royal College of Art (RCA) as artistic advisor and field publicity organiser; Ron ‘Turner’ Smith, managing director of Turner Smith Engineering Ltd, site manager/builder; Dave Roe, (later known as David Fairbrother Roe) ex-RCA, graphic design; Rikki Farr (Thomas Richard Farr), Portsmouth fashion boutique businessman and music club promoter, stage manager; John Peel,BBC Radio 1 deejay, compère. Tickets were priced at £1.5s.0d (£1.25) and distributed through a network of record shops around the Isle of Wight, London and the south of England. ).

The festival was organised from the Foulk family home: Tavistock House, Totland Bay.

The Event
Everything about the venue was substandard. Hell Field contained a crop of barley just one week beforehand and so the stubble ground was not a comfortable surface on which to sit for more than 14 hours. The climate was mostly dry but became very cold overnight. A small amount of rain occurred at dawn. For visitors from the mainland the location, south of Godchild, was almost as far away from the ferry ports of Ryde, Cowes and Yarmouth as was possible on the Island and involved travelling over narrow roads through a fairly complicated route of up to 14 miles. Southern Vectis bus service ran a shuttle service from the Ryde ferry and other towns on the Island.

Hell Field was divided into a camping area and an arena. The latter was defined by a lightweight post and wire fence loosely clad with canvas and polythene. The stage consisted of two flatbed trailers hired from British Road Services Ltd with a minimal canopy of canvas on scaffolding. A refreshment marquee was erected for beer and other beverages. Food was supplied by mobile catering vans, mostly belonging to Minghella (ice cream) of Ryde

Sanitary facilities were rudimentary, if not wholly inadequate. Electrical installations were carried out by H. Garrood Electrical of Carisbrooke High Street - a local contractor experienced in outdoor event installations including the annual Isle of Wight County Show. Two electricity generators were brought over to the Island from Winchester.

An estimated 9,000 attended the Festival with around half having travelled from the mainland. The event was orderly with no incidents of unruly behaviour reported. The local newspaper headline ran ‘POP FESTIVAL WAS ORDERLY – Fans apologise for accidental damage,’ amounting to ‘between £30 and £40’. .

The organisers enjoyed a good working relationship with statutory and other authorities. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary set up headquarters in farmyard buildings in the adjacent Fairfields Farm. St John Ambulance Brigade attended with 30 members on duty. 68 minor casualties were recorded. Only three people needed to attend hospital. Ibid.

The entertainments featuring the advertised acts ran from 8:00pm Saturday to 8:00am Sunday. Of the acts listed only one (the Cherokees) failed to perform. Film shorts made by students of the RCA were screened by Bill Foulk.

Acts
Performing artists were booked through the Clayman Agency Ltd, London EC3 (also serving as ticket agents). The most notable performers were USA, West Coast ‘counterculture’ band Jefferson Airplane on their first UK visit, and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown who’s song Fire was rapidly rising in record charts, reaching No.1 on 14 August. The event was first announced and advertised nationally in the music press on 24 August Other performers were Tyrannosaurus Rex, Fairport Convention, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Pretty Things, Plastic Penny, Smile, Blonde on Blonde, The Move, Gary Farr, Orange Bicycle, The Mirage, and Hunter’s Muskett. Isle of Wight bands The Cherokees and Halcyon Order were also on the bill, with the latter opening the show on Saturday evening. The Cherokees arrived late and declined to perform, feeling that as a ‘covers band’ they were somewhat outclassed by the other talent