On This Day in Art Rock History

A DAILY CHRONICLE

SAN FRANCISCO · THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA · 1960s

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June 20
DDC.1969.06.20

DDC.1969.06.20 · Bob Masse

Catalog Number
MSC-DDC.1969.06.20
Series
Misc
Venue
Date
June 20, 1969
Artists
Nickname
Newport '69
Performers
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Joe Cocker
Ike and Tina Turner
Steppenwolf
Jethro Tull
Eric Burdon
Byrds
Three Dog Night
Spirit
Taj Mahal
Albert King
Love
Buddy Miles Express

Newport '69

On the weekend of June 20-22, 1969, a former harness-racing track turned fairgrounds in the north San Fernando Valley held what was, for that moment, plausibly the largest pop festival the United States had ever seen. The Newport '69 Pop Festival — the name a holdover from a smaller 1968 event near Newport Beach, and nothing at all to do with Rhode Island — drew somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people across…

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Were You There?

Do you have memories of this show, or an original MSC-DDC.1969.06.20 poster? On This Day in Art Rock History celebrates the people who lived through the psychedelic era. Your stories and collections matter to this archive.