I had just turned 19 for the New Orleans Pop Festival. My younger brother-in-law had a cousin that lived nearby so we drove down from Shreveport. The racetrack had a tremendous slope to it and if you sat too close you would have a neck cramp. Most all the groups attended except for the ones mentioned earlier. T Rex was just 2 guys sitting cross-legged and playing acoustic guitars. They were great--later shortened the name and went electric. I have video retrievied from 8mm silent movies showing a small plane overhead dumping thousands of flowers on the crowd. Also fireworks late at night that brought a collective 'WOW". At one point somebody started running around the track while holding hands and others joined. I grabbed someones hand too and soon there were hundreds of people stretching around the track and running holding hands! Not much drugs openly there. Not much organization either, but all that would change at the Celebration of Life festival. UNBELIEVABLE I am going to re-watch my home movie and report on it soon.
hello ,i was there for 3 days,it was great. just wish i had been old enough to appreciate the music & everything else. i was 17 at the time. regards, harry o
I'm thinking of hitting the Voodoo Fest this year. No way near the experience but could be a good time.
Thanks for all the great updates from folks that haven't posted before. Welcome! and the stories are great. Any more to add to the thread out there?
I was 19 and went to the Festival with three friends. I remember seeing Janis Joplin sing. She was great. She noticed that her voice echoed in the distance and she mentioned it and started screaming to hear her echo. I remember seeing the Youngbloods sign their "everybody get together" song. And I remember Santana. We were on the left side of the stage on the race tract and it was pretty steep and I remember a motorcycle gang hanging around at the top of the tract. I wish I remembered more about the festival, but I was 19 and we had brought a lot of beer.
I spent the festival on the "medical team".. had my vehicle parked to the left of the stage. Does anyone remember the cycle that cought fire (in front of my car) and spewed flames high into the night air... happened about the time Janis was on stage. talk about a torchy singer.... one of the most persisitant images from the weekend.
