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Hunter T Wolfe
Hunter T Wolfe
1701 posts

Edited May 30, 2009, 15:32
Krumlin Festival 1970
May 30, 2009, 15:29
Anyone here know anything about this disastrous event? Also known as the Yorkshire Folk, Blues and Jazz Festival, it had an impressive line-up (Pink Floyd, Groundhogs, Fairport, Pentangle, Pretty Things, Ginger Baker, Fotheringay, Atomic Rooster, Elton John etc), but due to financial mismanagement and appalling weather that laid waste to the site, only a fraction of the advertised bands played and the event was cancelled after two days, with hundreds of fans treated for exposure and other injuries.
See http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/Krumlin-festival-1970.html for more info and some bleak photos. The sleeve of The Groundhogs' Split LP was also shot there.

It's a fascinating story, that as far as I know hasn't yet been properly told. I'm working on a lengthy piece on it; it took place very near to where I grew up in Sowerby Bridge and was a part of local mythology all through my childhood (my parents would have attended had my mother not been pregnant with me at the time). I've done a lot of internet research, but I wondered if any heads here had anything to contribute?
Popel Vooje
5373 posts

Edited May 31, 2009, 18:26
Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
May 30, 2009, 17:38
Hunter T Wolfe wrote:
Anyone here know anything about this disastrous event? Also known as the Yorkshire Folk, Blues and Jazz Festival, it had an impressive line-up (Pink Floyd, Groundhogs, Fairport, Pentangle, Pretty Things, Ginger Baker, Fotheringay, Atomic Rooster, Elton John etc), but due to financial mismanagement and appalling weather that laid waste to the site, only a fraction of the advertised bands played and the event was cancelled after two days, with hundreds of fans treated for exposure and other injuries.
See http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/Krumlin-festival-1970.html for more info and some bleak photos. The sleeve of The Groundhogs' Split LP was also shot there.

It's a fascinating story, that as far as I know hasn't yet been properly told. I'm working on a lengthy piece on it; it took place very near to where I grew up in Sowerby Bridge and was a part of local mythology all through my childhood (my parents would have attended had my mother not been pregnant with me at the time). I've done a lot of internet research, but I wondered if any heads here had anything to contribute?


Can't help you much there, I'm afraid, except to add that it's been rumoured for years that Nick Drake made one of his final appearances there (it gets a mention in Patrick Humphries' biography). As with most info related to him, though, it's never been fully substantiated, but it could have happened - especially if the rain forced some of the electric bands to move or cancel their slots (as happened at Woodstock).
Hunter T Wolfe
Hunter T Wolfe
1701 posts

Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
May 30, 2009, 19:07
Thanks- I read the Patrick Humphries book but must have missed/forgotten that. I doubt Nick Drake actually played- a sensitive soul like him would have been too appalled by the conditions, I think- but on the other hand, there was an extensive folkie line-up, including an "all night folk and blues concert" with individual artists not billed, so it's possible. I will file the rumour away for future reference.
bubblehead2
bubblehead2
2167 posts

Edited May 30, 2009, 20:23
Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
May 30, 2009, 20:22
You've probably already seen this but in case you haven't here's an excerpt from an interview with Dave Pegg on Folking.com....

Folkmaster - If you could be remembered for one thing what would it be - What's your legacy?

If I could be remembered for one thing - Well I did have a nasty accident at the Krumlin Festival in the 70's when I was wearing a pair of white trousers. I had rather too much to drink and when I got on stage I actually shat myself which was very embarrassing as the back of my white trousers changed colour very quickly. Behind me were all the other acts that were on, including Elton John who wasn't very famous at the time and The Move who were people that we knew from Birmingham. I was a laughing stock. It was incredibly embarrassing and I couldn’t turn around to adjust the volume on my amp because the audience would have seen the brown mass that was attached to my arse and would have know for sure what had happened.

Folkmaster - So they never knew?

The audience never knew. In fact the Festival was a complete disaster, it all went terribly wrong for us. Dave Swarbrick didn't actually shit himself on stage but was desperate for a tiddle and there was this hole in the canvas on the stage. He went over to the side of the stage, stuck his chopper through the hole and had a waz. Unfortunately the press area was on the other side of the hole and consequently we’ve never been popular with the Melody Maker since 1970, which I think was the last time they gave us a review.

Can't believe the dude kacked his pants and still played on !
Hunter T Wolfe
Hunter T Wolfe
1701 posts

Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
May 30, 2009, 21:20
Thanks, Bubblehead- I had seen that, but it's a class anecdote isn't it? It's stuff like that which makes me want to write up the event properly. I actually saw Dave Pegg play at the Puzzle Hall Inn in Sowerby Bridge a few years ago, and he made reference to that story; the Puzzle used to have press cuttings about the Krumlin festival (which was held nearby) wallpapering the walls on the way to the gents, so the association was unavoidable, really...
Lawrence
9547 posts

Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
May 30, 2009, 21:59
Sounds like a nightmare!
bubblehead2
bubblehead2
2167 posts

Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
May 31, 2009, 16:47
Good luck with the project and the research, it certainly sounds like an event that deserves to be chronicled so here's hoping people come forward to relate their experiences directly.

I took the bit about the festival experiencing some of the worst weather ever seen at an outdoor event in the UK with a pinch of salt at first, then i read someone had died of exposure. Gotta say that put my experience of the quagmire that was Glasto 85 or 86 into some perspective that's for sure !
Valve
Valve
1736 posts

Edited Jun 01, 2009, 10:07
Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
Jun 01, 2009, 10:06
Hey Hunter this is really interesting. I’m fascinated by that whole period and I’ve looked on that Festival UK site at other things but I’d never even heard of this event. I cant wait to tell my kids teacher who lives in Krumlin that Elton John once played in that field over there! She’s way too young to remember but I’ll certainly be asking older locals if they remember it. It was quite a pivotal time in Elton’s career cos from the muddy plot in Barkisland he was only weeks later playing the residency at the Troubadour from which international stardom followed.

Nigel Cross of Bucketful of Brains, Ptolemaic Terrascope fame was an attendee according to this and it’s probably worth checking with Chris Hewitt ([email protected]) who was involved with Bickershaw and Deeply Vale in 72 and would have been not too far away in Rochdale in 70. I’d be amazed if he wasn’t there. You’re not the John who’s working on the book mentioned on Festival UK are you? Let us know when and where you publish your stuff and good luck with it.
Hunter T Wolfe
Hunter T Wolfe
1701 posts

Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
Jun 01, 2009, 11:53
Hi Valve,

Thanks for those leads! No, I'm not the guy behind the website who is working on a book- at the moment this is just a hobby project, but if it gets more serious I'll certainly contact him to avoid stepping on his toes. I don't know how far he's got, but after all, I've been using his research as a starting point...!

I've still got friends and family round Sowerby Bridge so I'm pursuing a few local contacts of my own and will hopefully be up there over the summer to do some digging around!

There's other related local stories I'd love to link in as well- like the fact that the American blues singer Champion Jack Dupree lived on a Halifax council estate, for instance, at the same time as Christy Moore was living in a Mixenden tower block...!

If you or anyone you know wants to get in touch about this to help out,you can e mail me at ben graham at toucan surf dot com, only without any of the gaps between words, obviously. Cheers!
Valve
Valve
1736 posts

Re: Krumlin Festival 1970
Jun 01, 2009, 12:12
Hunter T Wolfe wrote:

There's other related local stories I'd love to link in as well- like the fact that the American blues singer Champion Jack Dupree lived on a Halifax council estate, for instance, at the same time as Christy Moore was living in a Mixenden tower block...!


Not to mention PJ Proby's recluse years in Todmorden. Mind you isn't everyone a recluse in Tod?

I bet Christy got some decent material out of his stay THERE.
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