Back in the Day: Palm Beach Pop Festival

By | November 28th, 2010 | 4 Comments

Palm Beach Pop Fest Poster

On Nov. 28, 1969, three months after Woodstock, Janis Joplin, Sly & The Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane and others in that historic lineup came down to Florida for another three-day music festival. The Palm Beach headliner was the Rolling Stones, who six days later would headline the infamous Altamont Speedway Free Festival where four people died, one by stabbing.

Perhaps being historically sandwiched between Woodstock and Altamont is why few seem to remember the Palm Beach Pop Festival (officially, the Palm Beach Music & Art Festival; aka, “Woodstock South”). It’s a shame considering the festival’s all-star lineup — which also included the Chambers Brothers, The Byrds, and Steppenwolf (but notably not Jimi Hendrix) — and the outlandish reports of official local resistance to the influx of 50,000 “long hairs”. Check out this excerpt from a 2009 Palm Beach Post article.

Then-Palm Beach County Sheriff Bill Heidtman vowed to make life miserable for the free-loving, pot-smoking, anti-establishment youngsters who were coming to the Palm Beach Pop Festival. He threatened to herd alligators toward the crowd, gathered on a grassy field at the Palm Beach International Raceway. And he promised to dig out fire ant colonies and relocate them at the venue.

And it wasn’t a warm welcome in another sense: a cold rain swept through over the weekend and turned the grounds into a mud pit. The stouthearted slept atop their cars, but many packed it in and left, so that only about 3,000 people witnessed the Stones’ closing performance.

Despite the hitches, the Palm Beach Pop Festival is yet further substantiation of South Florida’s place in rock and roll history. There was Jim Morrison’s Miami Incident, The Beatles’ Ed Sullivan debut (filmed in Miami Beach), and, 41 years ago today, there was the Palm Beach Pop Festival. While the first two are famous (or infamous) events, the Palm Beach Pop Festival seems just about forgotten.

You can learn more about the concert at palmbeachpopfestival.com, which features photos taken by Ken Davidoff, the festival’s official photographer. Also, check out this news report from the run-up to the festival. “The kids are coming,” says the reporter. “Critics warned it would be an uncontrollable orgy.” No wonder so many people showed up.

4 Comments on “Back in the Day: Palm Beach Pop Festival”

  1. 1 Ken Davidoff said at 1:20 pm on December 10th, 2010:

    Thanks for writing about this event, my Father and I were the official photographers and I camped out at the festival all three days. My business partner, Jack Connell and I are doing a documentary about the festival, and are looking for footage from the event, and your story about the experience. Our face book page is palmbeachpopfestival. We are all about the history, and telling the story. This is my full archive and the newest site. http://www.oldrockphoto.com/palmbeach.html
    Peace, Ken Davidoff

  2. 2 vicky brown said at 2:29 am on April 13th, 2011:

    I WAS AT THIS CONCERT STILL A HUGE HIGH LIGHT IN MY LIFE I REMEMBER JANIS COMING ON STAGE ,THE LACK OF TOLIETS LOL I LEFT MY SPOT TO USE THE OUT HOUSE THINGS WERE SO COOL BACK THEN I LEFT EVERYTHING I OWNED WITH COMPLETE STRANGERS ( MONEY,FOOD ,CHANGE OF CLOTHES ,BLANKET ETC…) WAS GONE AT LEAST 3 HRS WHEN I TURNED AROUND TO RETURN TO MY SPOT ALL I SAW WAS A FIELD OF PEOPLE !! THANK gOD MY SENSE OF DIRECTION WAS GOOD THEY SAW ME LOOKING AND WAVED ME DOWN!! THINGS AND TIMES WERE SO MUCH SIMPLIAR THEN I’LL FOREVER MISS THE TRUE INNOCENCE I WISH I STILL HAD SOME MOMENTOS OF THE FESTIVAL FOR YRS I HAD THE PROGRAM AND TICKET BUT SOMEHOW THEY GOT MISPLACED I REMEMBER SOME GREAT MUSIC ,COUNTRY JOE,THE BRYDS ,CANNED HEAT ,SLY THE LIST GOES ON…………..

  3. 3 artie o'bryan said at 3:27 pm on October 18th, 2011:

    I was there! was in the navy and just back from vietnam. a friend and i drove down from mayport naval station. i have the poster in my den. my kids are sick of hearing about it. i would tell ‘ya about it but i’d have to kill you!

  4. 4 Ed Tant said at 5:54 pm on July 30th, 2012:

    I was there and had a great time. I came down from Atlanta for the event and will never forget seeing The Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, King Crimson, Spirit and many more. Now it’s more than 42 years later and I’m still rushing! Rock on, everybody!

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