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Progressive Festival D'Aix En Provence, Sat Aug 01, 1970 - Mon Aug 03, 1970, Saint-Pons, Aix-en-Provence, France.
The festival, which took place on the Saint-Pons estate, located ten kilometres west of Aix-en-Provence on the banks of the Arc, brought together approximately 40,000 young people whose average age was around twenty. This French-style "Woodstock", held despite the ban issued by the Bouches-du-Rhône préfecture, had raised many concerns and its initiator, General Clément, himself secretary general of the International Music Festival. He was strongly criticised, starting with the president of the Festival, the CEO of the Casino, who was to castigate "the devastating hordes of hippies in search of trouble and scandals".
The fear of another Woodstock situation was huge and of course, that was exactly what the audience wanted. The rumours that surrounded it are significant of the atmosphere created by the fearful straights and it was all misplaced. As it often was. But unlike some festivals, the authorities, though proven wrong, didn’t back down and admit their error. When the Rada Krishna Temple paraded through the streets, their fears were probably confirmed and especially when they learned how much some were paid.
The daily newspaper Le Provençal of August 1st reported that, following protests by some young people over the entrance fee set at 55 francs, General Clément decided to let 500 hippies in for free. In reality, the festival took place without incident, which annoyed those who feared hippy anarchy, because their assumptions were wrong.
Several dozen Red Cross volunteers provided health supervision and the police were absent. Johnny Winter, who performed with the young Norwegian group Titanic and received a huge response. The festival in Aix-en-Provence was not repeated in the following years because the same fearful officials blocked it.
Aleph, Arthur Conley, Catherine Ribeiro and Alpes Chico Magnetic Band, Colosseum, Deep Purple, Dinastie, Crisis, Family, Irresistibles, Johnny Winter, Julian's Treatment, Komintern, Labyrinthe, Leonard Cohen, Magma, Majority One, Mouna, Mungo Jerry, Pacific Drift, Pete Brown and Piblokto!, Radha Krishna Temple, Rare Bird, Renaissance, Stratege, The Flock, Titanic, Trader Horne, Triangle, Wallace Collection was the full line-up
Authorities were always getting the fear about festivals, and the power of hairy men with guitars was great.
