Genre Pop music, rock music Dates 28 Dec 1968 – 30 Dec 1968 | Years active 1968 | |
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Founded by Tom Rounds, Mel Lawrence and others Location Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida, United States | ||
The Miami Pop Festival was the name of two different music festivals that took place in May and December 1968 at Gulfstream Park, a horse racing track in Hallandale, Florida, just north of Miami. Apart from the venue, the two events were not related.
History
The second Miami Pop Festival was held December 28–30, 1968, and was the first major rock festival on America's east coast. It was produced by a team led by Tom Rounds and Mel Lawrence, who had previously produced the seminal KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California. The crowd size for the three days was estimated to be around 100,000.
Performers covered a wide range of music genres, and included:
Many of these musicians were cast as superheroes in a commemorative comic book distributed at the event. Interesting moments during the festival included: Joni Mitchell inviting former Hollies member and new love interest Graham Nash, as well as Richie Havens to join her onstage to sing Dino Valenti’s “Get Together”; Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady playing bass guitar with Country Joe & the Fish; and folksinger/songwriter icon and Coconut Grove resident Fred Neil stopping in at the festival one day to hang out and enjoy the music. Several acts advertised in early promotional materials did not appear, and their names were removed from subsequent promotions, including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Dino Valenti and H.P. Lovecraft. Two bands who were expected to appear were unable to perform due to last-minute problems: The McCoys got snowbound in Canada and Booker T. Jones of Booker T. & the M.G.'s got the flu.
This festival was unique in that it was the first rock festival to have two entirely separate 'main' stages several hundred yards apart (the Flower Stage and the Flying Stage), both operating simultaneously and offering performers of equal calibre.