Access All AreasAn exhibition celebrating the history of the Isle of Wight Festival will open at The O2 on 19 September.
Marking the 25th edition of the festival, the Experience 25 exhibition is set to run at the O2’s Innovation Centre from 19 September to 13 November.
Along with early archive content from the first three editions of the festival, featuring acts including Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Who and Joni Mitchell, the exhibition will include an “authentic” recreation of Ray Foulk’s (pictured left) office, who oversaw the 1968, 1969 and 1970 events.
Experience 25 will also detail how John Giddings (pictured right) revived the festival in 2002 and feature content from key performances since, including David Bowie’s headline set in 2004 and Jay Z’s performance in 2010. Large-scale glass mosaic Wight Spirit by Guy Portelli will also be on display.
Giddings said, “The iconic Isle of Wight festival 1970 was the Woodstock of Europe, but the IOW Member of Parliament at the time, in all his wisdom, decided to ban it for 32 years in the form of an act of parliament – allowing others to pick up the baton.
“They let us restart it for the Queen’s jubilee, and it has gone from strength to strength – re-establishing this small island off the south coast of England as a worldwide brand.
“Here is a celebration of the last 22 years, with the original three years added by kind courtesy of Ray Foulk, without whom it, it would not exist.”
Foulk added, “My family is delighted to contribute to this commemorative show with historic items and archives as it travels from the Island to the O2. It is with great pride that our embryonic rock festivals of more than half a century ago have been so successfully and splendidly revived”.