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1971 Special Report: "Louisiana Celebration Of Life Festival"
Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:53 pm
Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:53 pm
quote:
The "Celebration of Life" music festival, held in 1971, was a rock concert held in McCrea, Louisiana, billed as an eight-day event, but ended early due to rain, lack of facilities, and public outcry.
The festival took place in McCrea, Louisiana, about 150 miles north of New Orleans, and was scheduled to run for eight days, from June 21 to 28, 1971.
The event ended prematurely due to heavy rain, a lack of adequate accommodations and sanitation, and negative reactions from local residents to the actions of some attendees.
Despite the challenges, over 150,000 people gathered to enjoy the music and side shows, more than doubling the population of Pointe Coupee Parish in a short time.
The festival featured a diverse lineup of artists, including Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Melanie, Boz Scaggs, Brownsville Station, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Stephen Stills & Neil Young, Country Joe McDonald, and John Sebastian.
The festival also included side shows and a fireworks display.
The event also had its share of problems, including two drownings in the Atchafalaya River, over 100 drug busts, and one drug overdose death.
This post was edited on 5/19/25 at 4:02 pm
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Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:55 pm to Jim Rockford
That’s a solid lineup of musicians. Worth it for Pink Floyd alone.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:55 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
The festival featured a diverse lineup of artists, including Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Melanie, Boz Scaggs, Brownsville Station, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Stephen Stills & Neil Young, Country Joe McDonald, and John Sebastian.
The greatest period of time in music history.
And free love on top of it. What a time to be young
This post was edited on 5/19/25 at 4:08 pm
Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:56 pm to genuineLSUtiger
Not sure they actually played, nor the Beach Boys. I think it ended in a shambles before they went on.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:57 pm to Jim Rockford
Just south of Simmesport
Posted on 5/19/25 at 3:58 pm to Shexter
I was at LSU with a guy whose grandfather had been a game warden during that time. They cruised up and down the river pulling out hippies before they drowned.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:03 pm to Jim Rockford
A few months ago I went down a 4 hour rabbit hole looking at every aspect of that festival. Until that time I had never heard of it,
My dad passed away last summer at 80 years old, and as I was going thru a box of old photos and shite, I came across a newspaper article about the festival and some flyers for the event. At the time, he was a drummer in a rock band and I would imagine it was something he would've jumped at the chance to attend. Never got the chance to ask him about it.
My dad passed away last summer at 80 years old, and as I was going thru a box of old photos and shite, I came across a newspaper article about the festival and some flyers for the event. At the time, he was a drummer in a rock band and I would imagine it was something he would've jumped at the chance to attend. Never got the chance to ask him about it.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:04 pm to Jim Rockford
There was a festival nobody remembered that was 2 weeks after Woodstock on Lake Lewisville just north of Dallas.
Texas International Pop Festival. The owner of Six Flags put it on. 150k people
Here was the lineup. A lot of these I dont know much about but it does have some big names.
Grand Funk Railroad
Chicago Transit Authority
James Cotton Blues Band
Janis Joplin
B.B. King
Rotary Connection
Canned Heat
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
The Incredible String Band
Led Zeppelin
Herbie Mann
Sam & Dave
Santana
Johnny Winter
Nazz
Sly and the Family Stone
Spirit
Sweetwater
Ten Years After
Tony Joe White
Texas International Pop Festival. The owner of Six Flags put it on. 150k people
Here was the lineup. A lot of these I dont know much about but it does have some big names.
Grand Funk Railroad
Chicago Transit Authority
James Cotton Blues Band
Janis Joplin
B.B. King
Rotary Connection
Canned Heat
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
The Incredible String Band
Led Zeppelin
Herbie Mann
Sam & Dave
Santana
Johnny Winter
Nazz
Sly and the Family Stone
Spirit
Sweetwater
Ten Years After
Tony Joe White
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:09 pm to Jim Rockford
I have heard about this from a buddy from Simmesport who heard about it from his dad. I did hear that people tried to swim in the Atchafalaya and at least one drowned.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:11 pm to Jim Rockford
Was talking to my dad about this festival the other day. He and his dad loaded up trucks with Strawberry Hill and MD 20/20 and made a mint.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:11 pm to Jebadeb
quote:
tried to swim in the Atchafalaya and at least one drowned
I was just a pup back then but even we knew not to get in the Atchafalaya, but dohs drogas doh, I guess
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:24 pm to dallastiger55
The 1969 Atlanta International Pop Festival took place at Atlanta International Speedway a month before woodstock and had pretty much the same lineup. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 150K people.
The next year it was moved to central Georgia (Byron) and had almost 600k people...supposedly the largest music festival ever. The lineup was about the same as Woodstock. Jimmy Hendrix played to the largest crowd of his career at Byron. This event was such a success and scared the people of Georgia so bad that the state legislature passed laws basically outlawing music festivals.....
The next year it was moved to central Georgia (Byron) and had almost 600k people...supposedly the largest music festival ever. The lineup was about the same as Woodstock. Jimmy Hendrix played to the largest crowd of his career at Byron. This event was such a success and scared the people of Georgia so bad that the state legislature passed laws basically outlawing music festivals.....
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:25 pm to Jim Rockford
Festival Of Man And Earth - Denham Springs Louisiana 1970
quote:
Held between Saturday May 30, 1970 and Mon Jun 01, 1970 at Thunderbird Beach, Thunderbird Place, Denham Springs Louisiana 70726.
quote:
The line-up of bands was Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Brownsville Station, Chuck Berry, It's a Beautiful Day, John Lee Hooker, Mason Proffit, MC5, Potliquor, Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, The Buckinghams, The Ides of March, & The Youngbloods.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:28 pm to Jim Rockford
I was home on leave from USAF, went one day but don’t remember very much, lol.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:29 pm to AwgustaDawg
quote:
The 1969 Atlanta International Pop Festival took place at Atlanta International Speedway a month before woodstock and had pretty much the same lineup. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 150K people.
I forgot about this but by many deadhead accounts the best show the dead ever did was an impromptu free concert a week after the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival in Piedmont Park...apparently there was a small music festival of mostly local performers going on and the dead showed up and played for like 6 hours and the crowd grew from about 500 people to 100K + by word of mouth in an era where even pay phones were kind of scarce....initially the city tried to shut this down but the crowd grew so fast they actually did nothing but allow them to play and keep order....almost no if any arrests and no one died. Pretty neat stuff....
Posted on 5/19/25 at 4:50 pm to Shexter
quote:
at Thunderbird Beach, Thunderbird Place, Denham Springs Louisiana 70726.
Around that time, as a pre-elementary kid, my family spent a long summer weekend there in one of the cabins. One of my earliest memories. The drive from Baker seemed like an eternity. The steps going up the water slide were collapsed in places with sharp metal edges and peeling carpet. It seemed 10 stories high at the time.
There were large metal I-beams slightly higher than water level that you could wade/swim out too. Kids would run the length of them into the water. A metal I-beam, slicker than owl shite and hotter than the surface of the sun. I still have a scar on the top of my foot from either the stairs or the I-beam.
Posted on 5/19/25 at 5:08 pm to Basura Blanco
Beats the hell out of the overly safe crap they build now in parks
Posted on 5/19/25 at 5:26 pm to Jim Rockford
I remember that event. There was also the New Orleans Pop Festival at the old Baton Rouge Speedway in Prairieville that took place in 1969.
>
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Posted on 5/19/25 at 6:15 pm to Jim Rockford
Dirty, stinking hippies
Posted on 5/19/25 at 7:08 pm to geauxbrown
quote:
Dirty, stinking hippies
So says the one conceived at the gig
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