PLANS are underway to mark the 50th anniversaries of the ground-breaking original IW Festivals from 1968 to 1970 with three years of celebratory events. 


All Wight Now, borrowing from rock band Free’s huge hit from the massive 1970 festival, is the catch-all title covering the planned events, which will get under way this year with a ‘modest’ 300-seat indoor event at Tapnell Farm, a venue overlooking the iconic 1970 festival site at Afton. 


If this year’s event is successful, the plan is for the 2019 and 2020 events to celebrate the 1969 and 1970 festivals on the 1970 festival site itself. 


The inaugural event this year, on September 1, is deliberately low-key to reflect the modest nature of the original festival. It has already booked Fairport Convention co-founder Ashley Hutchings, who is bringing his trio to the Island. The Fairports played the 1968 festival. Tickets are already on sale and more names are set to be released in the coming weeks. 
All Wight Now chairman Andy Knight, a veteran attendee of the 1970 event, said the three-year celebrations had the support of both Ray Foulk, co-founder of the original 68-70 events, and modern IW festival promoter John Giddings. 
“Ray has expressed his support and John Giddings is very supportive of the venture,” he said. 
“We are not in competition with the modern IW Festival. What we’re about is just about commemorating those original festivals, the spirit of those events and their legacy. We are fortunate to tie in with Tapnell Farm, who have bought into the whole ethos. And it is great the site for the first event this year overlooks the 1970 festival site. 
“It’s great to be able to announce immediately the appearance of Ashley Hutchings, who Bob Dylan described not so long ago as ‘the single most important figure in the history of English folk-rock’. More names will follow.” 


The 1968 event, with a festival crowd of about 12,000, featured headliners Jefferson Airplane, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Tyrannosaurus Rex, DJ  John Peel plus The Move and The Pretty Things among others. 
The 1969 festival was a major step up with the capture of Bob Dylan, who turned his back on Woodstock, close to his home in New York State, to play the IW. The Who, Moody Blues and Free were among a strong bill. 


But the 1970 ‘Last Great Event’ festival eclipsed even that with a massive throng put at anything between 300,000 and 600,000 at Afton for a stellar line up, topped by Jimi Hendrix’s last-ever performance, and including The Doors, Joan Baez, The Moody Blues, The Who, Jethro Tull, Free, Donovan, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Rory Gallagher and Melanie. 
Andy said, wherever possible, the organisers were interested in booking artists who appeared at the 68-70 events. 


At the launch meeting, Chris Hewitt, of CH Vintage Audio, displayed a WEM mixing desk  from the 1970 festival and said: “It would be brilliant to have some of the original artists playing through some of the original Island festival equipment in 2019 and 2020 on the original site.” 
Tickets for the 2018 event on September 1 at Tapnell Farm are now on sale at www.allwightnow.com