A 'Bright-Hire' ex-Bread van was hired for the day. Front seat passengers had the best journey, while the rest of us lounged on the floor of the van.
The
1969 bash only attracted 12,000 punters, and has in general been overshadowed by
its far bigger and younger sibling festival of 1970.
Record Mirror Report: The Bath-Festival of Blues was no picnic for the poor kid stranded in the middle of the football field and badly in need of a public convenience. As one peered out on a veritable sea of heads (pun?), it appeared as if there were two or three more hippies than blades of grass on the field. 40,000 or more raving music buffs migrated to the site on Saturday the 28th via train, plane, car, foot or meditation to see the vast line-up of acts, which included among others, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin John Mayall, Keef Hartley Band, the Nice, Roy Harper, Chicken Shack, Liverpool Scene and a never-ending list of others.
The stages (two) were barely visible from the opposite end of the field, but the sound was audible throughout the ground. Hot dogs were being consumed with gusto and there was a run on the ice cream van which put poor old Luigi under great stress. People shuffled through mile-long queues, forgetting half way, what it was they were queueing for. A space forty feet from the stages was worth its weight in Watney's.
The great teeming hordes behaved exceptionally well with the frequent Persuasion Of John Peel and Mike Quinn. It was a great day for armpits and whiskers and not an idle one musically. Led Zeppelin and the Nice appeared to have stolen the show, but all the other acts were received with voluminous applause. The only incident occurred during John Mayall's set when one monumental idiot who had been annoying the crowds and bands for hours. chucked a bottle and was promptly chucked in return. Things otherwise were handled well by the genuine people who came down to hear some good sounds.