Reading festival exhibition opens to mark 50th anniversary
It's on at the Reading museum for the next few months
Last updated 30th Aug 2021
We've had a look round the new 50th anniversary exhibition commemorating the first Reading Festival back in 1971 which has opened at Reading museum.
‘The 1971 READING FESTIVAL: For the First Time’ opened just before this year's festival and tells the story of the very first festival through rare and unseen photographs, posters, ephemera, and unique items of rock memorabilia.
The 1971 line up included Genesis (who pulled out at the last moment), 'Streets of London' singer Ralph McTell, and Irish rock guitar legend Rory Gallagher.
The family of Rory - who has been cited as an inspiration to many musicians including Brian May of Queen - have donated the guitar he played at the 1971 festival along with his favourite amplifier.
Exhibition curator Brendan Carr says putting it together wasn't without its challenges:
"I talked to Barbara Pendleton who was the founder of the festival along with her husband Harold and she said to me 'Brendan how are you going to be able to do this exhibition? It rained all weekend and the photographers all went home' and I was thinking 'oh no how are we going to do this without any imagery?' but actually we were able to find some archives that had never been seen."
The programme for the original festival is also on show - it was sourced from a collector in the US.
Posters, a musical soundtrack and photographs bring alive the festival atmosphere and the way the town looked at the time. Food was certainly reasonably priced!
But 'British rail' were obviously a little unsure how to describe the festival.
‘The 1971 READING FESTIVAL: For the First Time’ is free to view and runs until Saturday 29 January 2022 in the Sir John Madejski Gallery, Reading Museum.