Phun City was a rock festival held at Ecclesden Common near Worthing, England, from 24 July to 26 July 1970. Excluding the one-day free concerts in London's Hyde Park, Phun City became the first large-scale free festival in the UK.[1]
Phun City
Ecclesden Common near Worthing was the location for Phun City
Organised by the UK UndergroundanarchistMick Farren and financed by Ronan O'Rahilly, the festival was notable for having no fences and no admission fees. It was not intended to be a free concert, but funding was withdrawn a few days before the event. Rather than cancel it, the organisers told the scheduled bands who turned up that they would have to give their services for nothing. Remarkably, most of the acts stayed on. Free were billed to play, but withdrew – Farren later noted in his memoirs the irony of a band named Free refusing to play for free.[2] Those who did appear included MC5, The Pretty Things, Kevin Ayers, Steve Peregrin Took's band Shagrat, Edgar Broughton Band, Mungo Jerry, Mighty Baby and Pink Fairies "who were taking all their clothes off as they played". The Beat generation poet William Burroughs also appeared.[citation needed]
The Hells Angels – UK had been hired as the security force, but 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 "people's festival" held in the UK.[3]
Camping at the festival, Worthing teenager Billy Idol saw MC5 play, saying later "I didn't realize it then but I had just seen the future of rock".[4]Mick Jones another future punk pioneer was also enthusiastic "That was the first time MC5 had played. My overriding memory was falling into a ditch! That was a great festival".[5]
phun, city, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2014, lea. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Phun City news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Phun City was a rock festival held at Ecclesden Common near Worthing England from 24 July to 26 July 1970 Excluding the one day free concerts in London s Hyde Park Phun City became the first large scale free festival in the UK 1 Phun CityEcclesden Common near Worthing was the location for Phun CityGenreRock alternative rockDates24 26 July 1970Location s Ecclesden Common near Worthing Sussex EnglandYears active1970Founded byMick Farren Contents 1 History 2 Legacy 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditOrganised by the UK Underground anarchist Mick Farren and financed by Ronan O Rahilly the festival was notable for having no fences and no admission fees It was not intended to be a free concert but funding was withdrawn a few days before the event Rather than cancel it the organisers told the scheduled bands who turned up that they would have to give their services for nothing Remarkably most of the acts stayed on Free were billed to play but withdrew Farren later noted in his memoirs the irony of a band named Free refusing to play for free 2 Those who did appear included MC5 The Pretty Things Kevin Ayers Steve Peregrin Took s band Shagrat Edgar Broughton Band Mungo Jerry Mighty Baby and Pink Fairies who were taking all their clothes off as they played The Beat generation poet William Burroughs also appeared citation needed The Hells Angels UK had been hired as the security force but 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 people s festival held in the UK 3 The poster art was by Edward Barker citation needed Legacy EditCamping at the festival Worthing teenager Billy Idol saw MC5 play saying later I didn t realize it then but I had just seen the future of rock 4 Mick Jones another future punk pioneer was also enthusiastic That was the first time MC5 had played My overriding memory was falling into a ditch That was a great festival 5 See also Edit Rock music portalFestivals in the United Kingdom List of historic rock festivals List of free festivalsReferences Edit Phun City Free Festival 1970 Retrieved 14 February 2010 Give The Anarchist A Cigarette Chapter Phun City Here We Come p271 Pimlico Press 2001 ISBN 978 0 7126 6732 6 ukrockfestivals Phun City menu Get your end away at Phun City Billy Idol 2014 Dancing with Myself John Robb 2012 Punk Rock An Oral HistoryExternal links EditFestival Archive Phun City Pages International Times Archive IT85 13 Aug 1970 Phun City Phun City by Worthing artist Dan Thompson Get On Down A Decade of Rock and Roll Posters edited by Mick Farren 1977 Coordinates 50 50 17 N 0 27 55 W 50 83814 N 0 46521 W 50 83814 0 46521 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Phun City amp oldid 1144515974, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
