Strawberry Fields Festival in 1970
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1970 Rock Festival at Canada's Mosport Park
The year 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music Festival. This got me thinking about Canada's Woodstock - The Strawberry Fields Festival - a rock concert held at Mosport Park, Ontario - August 7th, 8th and 9th, 1970.
I was a young teenager at the time and lived a couple of hours away from Mosport, so I couldn't go. But I sure wanted to!
Take a trip down memory lane to the Strawberry Fields concert. You will find firsthand accounts from others who were lucky enough to be there (including a promoter of the festival), plus a link to amazing images from by John Phillips Photography.
Listen to music from some of the bands that played there.
Some of My Favorite Songs
from the Strawberry Fields Festival
Here are some of my favorite songs that were sung at the festival - from...
* Procol Harum
* Melanie
* Sly and the Family Stone
... and more. Listen while you browse this page.
The Strawberry Fields Name
Riding on the success of the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles
There were rumors that John Lennon was involved in the organizing of the Strawberry Fields Festival, although, in the end, he did not attend.
This Toronto Star article from 2007, drawn from RCMP reports, indicates that John Lennon and Yoko Ono wanted to stage a peace festival at Mosport Park in July 1970. This did not happen, but the concert did. Read the article to find out about the RCMP involvement in this story.
Let me take you down
'cause I'm going to
Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
-John Lennon, Strawberry Fields 1966
Have You Been to a Huge Rock Concert?
like Woodstock or Strawberry Fields
If more than one, vote for your favorite.
The Back Story
of the Strawberry Fields Festival
The Strawberry Fields Festival was to be Canada's answer to Woodstock.
It was originally planned for Moncton, New Brunswick but was changed at the last minute to Mosport, Ontario - 800 miles away - a fact that was unknown to some who headed to Moncton!
There were a lot of great acts lined up (although some didn't show) and it competed fairly well with Woodstock, especially in that it didn't rain!
Mosport Park (a race track) was the location for the festival to be held on August 7, 8, & 9, 1970. Confirmed performers were Jethro Tull, Mountain, Melanie, Jose Feliciano, Procol Harum, Alice Cooper, Sly & the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Leonard Cohen, Eric Burdon & War, Delaney and Bonnie, Cactus, the Youngbloods, Grand Funk Railroad, Leigh Ashford (Moxy), and Crowbar (Ronnie Hawkins). Led Zeppelin was advertised but did not appear.
Apparently, several thousand Americans were denied entry into Canada for "lack of funds" but approximately 10,000 Americans did make it. One report said that approximately 250,000 people attended the weekend, compared to 500,000 at Woodstock. However, there was another concert that same weekend in Goose Lake, Michigan that drew similar numbers. So, between the two of them, they came pretty close to Woodstock's numbers.
Get Together
by the Youngbloods
This was Harley Hansen's favorite song from the Strawberry Fields Festival. Perfect song for a rock festival! Enjoy while viewing the page.
From the Poster
"Visit Free America,
3 days & 500 acres of
LOVE, SUN & SOUND
for only $15.00"
Where is Mosport, Ontario?
Note From John Brower, Rock Promoter
from the Strawberry Fields Festival Facebook Page
There is a comment at the end of this page from John Brower, promoter of the festival. Here is what he wrote on the Facebook page.
"Hi everyone, my name is John Brower and I produced the festival after our attempts at doing a peace festival with john & yoko fell apart due to government opposition both in Canada and from the Nixon White House. (believe it or not we saw from the freedom of information act that they were active in opposition to it). It is really amazing to see a facebook site for the festival. I am in Toronto now getting ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Toronto Rock n Roll Revival which is the festival I produced in September 69 @ Varisty satadium on the U of T campus where we convinced John & Yoko & Eric Clapton to come over unannounced and debut The Plastic Ono Band..check out www.rockwarpeace.com for a little look in advance of the movie we hope to shoot next year about all of that time including the amazing Strawberry Fields Festival.xxxxxxxxxoooooooo"
Magical Mystery Tour
A Classic Beatles Album Remastered
Magical Mystery Tour
Amazon Price: $8.96 (as of 06/03/2012)
List Price: $18.98
This album has many great songs, including Strawberry Fields Forever.
Some of the Great Songs from Magical Mystery Tour
Including Strawberry Fields Forever
| Track | Artist | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magical Mystery Tour | The Beatles | The Beatles Box Set | |
| Strawberry Fields Forever | The Beatles | The Beatles Box Set | |
| Penny Lane | The Beatles | Magical Mystery Tour | |
| I Am the Walrus | The Beatles | Magical Mystery Tour | |
| All You Need Is Love | The Beatles | Magical Mystery Tour | |
| Hello, Goodbye | The Beatles | Magical Mystery Tour | |
| The Fool On the Hill | The Beatles | Magical Mystery Tour | |
| Baby, You're a Rich Man | The Beatles | Magical Mystery Tour |
Links to Firsthand Accounts
from the Strawberry Fields Festival
- Tom M - "All in all, a pretty intense religious experience."
- We set out hitchhiking in small groups on Tuesday or Wednesday, to give us plenty of time to get there for the start on Friday. My traveling companion for this trip was Keith S. from good old First Baptist Church. We were all supposed to meet at Lake George, spend the night, and head out again for Moncton, but Keith and I got a good ride that went way past Lake George. We figured that we would probably get there kinda early, but that was OK with us. What we did not know was that the festival had been moved from Moncton to Mosport, Ontario, about 800 miles west!
- Charlie Running Horse - "You guys are drunk, you have no money, you look like this,look at your car (peace signs, bald tires, torn upholstery), you're headed for a rock festival, and you think we should let you into our country?"
- Oh, Jeez, where do I begin with this... Well, I guess we all had a bad case of "Woodstock Fever", especially after the movie came out and we saw a lot of our friends in it. So when word came out of a festival in Canada, we were more than ready to go. At first, the four of us were going to hitchike up. God it was great being young and stupid, anything was possible. But in the end, we decided to take Harry's red VW with the peace signs in the window.
- Harley Hanson - "Of course, now to this day, whenever I hear the Youngbloods play "Let's Get Together," I close my eyes."
- My name's Harley Hansen and in 1970, the song that stuck in my memory was "Let's Get Together," by the Youngbloods. I was kind of at the state that's euphemistically known as "finding yourself." I knew what I didn't want to do was join the Army and go to the Vietnam War. I did not know what I wanted to do. Consequently, I was going to school. And when my first year of school ended, I did not want to go home to my parents because they were not fond of long hair, so I went out to Peterborough, N.H., where my sister, Karen, and my brother-in-law, Andrew, lived. They were very nice to put me up over the summer. When I was up there, I heard that they were having this rock festival north of Toronto in Ontario, Strawberry Fields. And I took off without a ticket.
- Mick Cusimano - "One woman stood in front of us wearing nothing but a canteen."
- In 1970 several of us went to the Strawberry Fields Rock Festival at Mosport Speedway in Ontario Canada. The myth that the spirit of the sixties began with Woodstock and ended months later at Altamont is nothing but existentialist journalists trying to fit the rock festival phenomenon into some neat easy to explain box. The truth was the festivals at Mosport; Goose Lake and other shows after Altamont were great events where people got along just fine.
- Ben Robicheau - "I spent the next three days in the middle of a sea of 250,000 people."
- Forty years ago this August, half a million people made their way to Max Yasgur's farm in upstate New York to attend the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The concert became renowned around the world as the largest music festival ever held. Today most people know about Woodstock and its place in popular music history. What many people do not know however, is that another music festival, "a second Woodstock" was held in Canada one year later.
John Phillips Photography
Photographed the Strawberry Fields Festival
I found this site by John Phillips Photography with some amazing photographs from the festival. Here is what he has to say about this event.
"Officially known as: "Strawberry Fields, an International Carnival of Sight and Sound" this three day rock and alternative life style festival took place over three hot August days in 1970. A notable and spontaneous event which occurred at this festival, Attack of the Mud People, is documented with anthropological detail in this unique photographic collection." Note: He describes this as a "tribal" group, organized spontaneously. Do you think those people are now Squidooers?
WARNING!! : "Some of this material contains obscene language and sexually explicit imagery that some people may find objectionable and which is definitely not suitable for under-age or sensitive viewers."
Albums by the Artists
who performed at Strawberry Fields
Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade of Pale
German digipak reissue of 1967 album includes four more...2 points
The Best Of Alice Cooper: Mascara & Monsters
An essential figure in any history of the American more...1 point
Procol Harum: Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
2009, Stylish packaging includes 20-page booklet, more...1 point
The Very Best of Melanie
1998 compilation on the Camden label featuring 21 more...1 point
Ten Years After: Anthology 1967-1971
Say what you will, but England's Ten Years After certainly more...0 points
Sly & The Family Stone: The Woodstock Experience (2CD)
Sly & The Family Stone were already breaking s more...0 points
Essential Sly & Family Stone
Long before Michael Jackson and Prince became supe more...0 points
Grand Funk Railroad: Live Album
24-bit digitally remastered reissue for one of the more...0 points
Leonard Cohen: Live In London
For over four decades, Leonard Cohen has been one more...0 points
Ten Years After: Live at the Fillmore East
UK live compilation for the British blues-rock qua more...0 points
Essential Sly & Family Stone
Long before Michael Jackson and Prince became supe more...0 points
Playlist: The Very Best of Sly & the Family Stone
We've fished through hundreds of tracks to cherry pick more...0 points
The Youngbloods: Rock Festival
Domestic CD debuts! Fresh from the success of &quo more...0 points
The Best of Eric Burdon & War
The cream of WAR's output recorded during Burdon's more...0 points
Were you at the Strawberry Fields Festival?
Tell us about it in the comments.
Fascinating reading in the comments below from people who were there!
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robert kliegerman, webt with, a seiend, mark dezso, and have not seen him since.
May 27, 2012 @ 2:26 am | delete
- Met Alvin Lee, got stoned with gim, geat show, and sky was great roo/
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imconrod
Mar 30, 2012 @ 10:24 pm | delete
- I had just turned 16, and hitchhiked there with 2 friends. We lived in Toronto which was about an hour and a half drive to Mosport park but that day it took us about 5-6 hours to hitch there. We had no tickets but we got in. It was crazy and wonderful and a great time to be young. I got as high as I have ever been in my life and lost my friends several times over those 3 days. I made quick friends who I never saw again and was able to look naked people (some covered in mud) in the eye while having a normal conversation and felt not one bit strange about it. The only negative thing I experienced was the port a potties...yuch....the smell and the wait for one. The music was (of course) unfreakingbelievable. Ahhhhh, good times!!
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HARLEYMARKO
Feb 18, 2012 @ 11:46 am | delete
- We drove up from chicago. richie,rocket, patty and myself. We drove a $75 pontiac tempest convertable that broke down halfway there. The engine dropped a pushrod and a roadside service station left the old pushrod in the oilpan and repaired it for $6.50. amazing.When we got to the canadian border our car was searched and we were told we couldnt bring our case of boones farm wine in their country. Two officers took me and ritchie to the mens room to pour it out. After the first bottle I said to ritchie I dont know about you but I'm not driving so we started chugging half a bottle and pouring out the rest.The border guys didn't care at all. After arriving the concert was huge. I remember it was in the 90's during the day and the 50's or 60's at night. I remember mud people, electric yo yo's,and a massive amount of people. If my memory serves me right the concert ended with ten years after, procul harem, grand funk, and sly and the family stone.I remember quite a bit considering. PEACE LOVE OUT
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headrock
Aug 31, 2011 @ 6:56 pm | delete
- I was there, from central, PA. Drove up with several buds in a pyschedelic VW bus. No trouble getting across the border or finding the race track. What a mob scene. Saw some of the strangest sights of my life. The festival was great, had been at Atlantic City Pop Festival in '69, 2 weeks before Woodstock, so I had a pretty good idea what to expect. Did far too much good acid, after 2 days decided to split. Hitchhiked back with a buddy - I new how much dope the van driver was going to try to smuggle across the border, and I was freaked about getting busted. Last time I ever hitched. It was an endurance contest. My buddy managed to cross the border, with the dope he scored, without getting busted. All in all, a very memorable trip.
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Ira Edwin Traister-Raab
Jun 27, 2011 @ 12:58 pm | delete
- Had a great picture of myself with my head looking into a Huge baggie of pink mescalene. Crazy adventure going over Peace Bridge. Turned away. Told friend to ditch his shit. Didn't listen. Busted at U.S. border. Left poor Petey in the slammer. Brother How and I went through Vermont way early in the A.M. Remember freaks all night calling out: Alice Cooooooper, Alice Coooooper! Far-Out! My brother made it to Woodstock. I was on my way back from Mexico the day festival started; then the close N.YThruway. So thankful to make to this one! Honestly, can!t remember much except my brother making love to a young lovely in the comfort and privacy of our pup-tent and 250,000 of our favorite neighbors. Peace, Love. God it feels good to say that and Mean it!
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About the Author
by kimmanleyort
Mother, wife and photographer who never stops learning. As a Canadian who lived near Mosport, Ontario growing up, I took a look back at the huge Strawberry... more »
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Music from the Festival
Procol Harum - Greatest Hits
Amazon Price: $10.32 (as of 06/03/2012)
One of My Favorites
Sly & The Family Stone: The Woodstock Experience (2CD)
Amazon Price: $11.40 (as of 06/03/2012)
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