Genre Rock, pop, etc. Years active 1968 | Dates May 18–19, 1968 Attendance 25,000 | |
Location(s) Hallandale, Florida, United States Founded by Richard O'Barry and Michael Lang | ||
The Miami Pop Festival was the name of two unrelated music festivals that took place in May and December 1968 at Gulfstream Park, a horse racing track in Hallandale, Florida (now called Hallandale Beach), just north of Miami. The first took place on May 18–19, 1968, and was promoted by Richard O'Barry and Michael Lang, later famous as promoter of Woodstock. Main headliners included The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Contents
The festival
The first Miami Pop event took place May 18–19, 1968, and was originally publicized on promotional materials as the "1968 Pop and Underground Festival," and "The 1968 Pop Festival". An estimated 25,000 people attended this event, which was promoted by Richard O'Barry and Michael Lang, later famous as promoter of Woodstock. Bands featured at the festival included The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Mothers of Invention, Blue Cheer, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The opening act on Saturday was a little-known group called The Package, and the closing act was The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Originally scheduled as a two-day event, Sunday's concert was rained out. But there was at least one beneficial result - it inspired Hendrix to write "Rainy Day, Dream Away."
Media
On November 5, 2013, a CD and DVD were released containing the first available audio and film of the Experience at the festival. The CD, The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Miami Pop Festival, contains about an hour of previously unreleased music. The DVD, Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’, features a two-hour documentary on Hendrix’s life, including previously-unseen film of Hendrix and the band at the Miami festival, as well as some extras with additional footage from the festival. The documentary was also broadcast in the US on November 5, 2013, by the Public Broadcasting Service as part of its American Masters series.