The 15th in my mini-series looking back at some of the iconic rock festivals of the 1960’s and 1970’s. We’ve been to Woodstock, Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Reading, Monterey, Seattle, Atlantic City and Bath, to name just a few – but have you ever heard of WEELEY? It’s a small village near Clacton in Essex and over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 1971 it filled the gap created by an Act of Parliament which banned what should have been the 4th Isle of Wight Festival.
Initially envisaged as a small fundraising event run by the local Round Table, eventually approx. 150,000 showed up to be entertained by some top-line acts. The locals were astonished but rallied round to make the event a surprise success. Let me tell you some of the story and play live tracks from 17 of the acts who played then.
