Phun City
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Phun City festival was held at Ecclesden Common near Worthing, England from July 24 to July 26 1970. Organised by the UK Underground anarchist Mick Farren, there were no fences and no admission fees. It was put to the bands who turned up that they gave their services for nothing. Those who played included The MC5, Pretty Things, Kevin Ayers, Steve Took's Shagrat, the Edgar Broughton Band, Mungo Jerry and the Pink Fairies, “who taking all their clothes off as they played” [1] . The ‘’Beatnik’’ Beat generation poet William Burroughs also appeared. Free (band) were billed to play – but when they heard they wouldn’t get paid they withdrew.
The Hells Angels - UK had been hired as the security force Farren said " it slowly dawned on us that although none of our original plans had come together, we were no longer in control. "Instead, the audience themselves were now in charge, with the organizers just making sure the bands came and went - it was, if somewhat inadvertently, the first large scale "peoples festival" held in the UK.
References
- (1) (November 25 2003) Festival Archived – Phun City Pages Site
See also: Festivals in the United Kingdom